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To my dear wife, Joanna D. Carpenter, the 
best of traveling companions and the best of liter- 
ary critics, this volume on Europe is affectionately 
dedicated. 



CARPENTER'S GEOGRAPHICAL READER 



EUROPE 



BY 

FRANK G. CARPENTER 



NEW YORK • : • CINCINNATI • : • CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 






V 





CARPENTER'S 




SUP 


PLEMENTAF 


IY READERS 
il Series 


<5eograpbtcs 


NORTH AMERICA . 


. 60 cts. 


SOUTH AMERICA 






. 60 cts. 


EUROPE 


. 






. 70 cts. 


ASIA . 


. 






. 60 cts. 


AFRICA 








. 60 cts. 


AUSTRALIA AND ISLANDS OF THE SEA 60 cts. 


Series on Commerce ano irnoustrg 


HOW THE 


WORLD IS FED . 


. 60 cts. 


HOW THE 


WORLD IS CLOTHED . 


. 60 cts. 


HOW THE 


WORLD IS HOUSED . 


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Copyright, 1902, 1912, by 
FRANK G. CARPENTER. 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. 



CARP. EUROPE. 
E. P. 82 



(gC!.A330875 



PREFACE. 

This book aims to give the children a plain and simple de- 
scription of the countries of Europe as they are to-day. The 
method is by taking the little ones on a personally conducted tour 
over the continent. It is the children themselves who cross the 
Atlantic Ocean, steam over the Baltic and the Mediterranean 
seas and down the historic Rhine and the Danube. It is they 
who climb the Alps and stand on the North Cape watching the 
sun shine at midnight. It is they who go from city to city, from 
farm to farm, and factory to factory, seeing how the various 
peoples live and what they are doing in the work of the world. 
It is they who are admitted to the palaces, parliaments, and 
public offices where they learn how each nation is governed and 
something as to its civilization, commerce, and trade. 

It is not intended that these travels should take the place of the 
school geographies, but that they should be used with such books 
as supplementary reading. As in the volumes describing similar 
tours in North America, South America, and Asia, the text-books 
on geography may be regarded as the skeleton and this reader as 
the flesh and blood which will clothe the dry bones and make 
the countries a living whole in the minds of the pupils. 

A glance at the table of contents will give some idea of the 
scope and character of the work. The children, having crossed 
the Atlantic on one of the big ocean greyhounds, begin their tour 
in the United Kingdom. Landing at Queenstown, they explore 
Ireland, visiting Cork, Killarney, Limerick, and Galway. They 
cross the bog lands and plains to Dublin, and thence go to the 
Giant's Causeway and Belfast, where they learn how linen is made. 
From Belfast, they sail to Glasgow, and after spending a while in 
the Lowlands or Industrial Scotland go to Edinburgh by the 
Trossachs. They make a hunting trip to the Highlands, and visit 
the homes of Robert Burns and Walter Scott before crossing the 
border to England. 

In England they go through the country districts to see how the 

5 



6 PREFACE. 

farmers live, and also visit the great factories which long gave that 
country its industrial supremacy, and then, after seeing the other 
great cities, take train for London. Here one chapter is devoted 
to the metropolis as the commercial center of the world, and 
another to describing the visits of the little ones to the palaces 
and parliament and learning how England is governed. 

Crossing the Channel from Dover to Calais, France is explored 
in the same way, and then Belgium and the Netherlands. Silk 
and pottery have especial mention in France, and lace in Belgium. 
In Holland the little ones see the windmills, dikes, and canals; 
they study the Dutch as an industrial nation, and among other 
things investigate the diamond-cutting establishments for which 
they are famous. 

Leaving Holland, the children travel among the Danes and then 
among the Swedes, the Norwegians and Germans. Several chap- 
ters are devoted to the German Empire, the last describing a 
trip up the Rhine to Switzerland and the Alps. After this there 
is a long journey down the Danube, through Austria, Hungary, 
and the out of the way lands of the Balkan Peninsula to the 
Black Sea, where a ship is at hand to take the young travelers to 
Russia. They land at Odessa and go northward to St. Petersburg, 
traveling extensively in Russia in Europe. They end this part 
of their journey, after a sail down the Volga, in the oil lands of 
the Caspian Sea, and then make their way west, via the Caucasus, 
the Black Sea, and the Bosporus, to see something of the Turks. 

From Constantinople they sail for Athens and explore Greece. 
They travel over Italy, visiting Venice, Milan, Florence, Genoa, 
and Rome ; and then go to Naples, where they climb Mount Vesu- 
vius and learn about volcanoes. They next cross the Mediter- 
ranean to Spain, and from there go north to Portugal, and home 
by way of London. 

A large part of the book is based upon the observations of the 
author in the countries described, and great care has been taken 
to make every part of it as accurate and as up to date as possible. 
The territory, however, is so vast and so varied that only the 
most important places and things can be mentioned, the subjects 
being chosen with due regard to child interest and, at the same 
time, instruction. 



CONTENTS 



I. Across the Atlantic to Europe 9 

II. Southern Ireland 15 

III. Central and Northern Ireland 25 

IV. Glasgow and the Clyde 32 

V. The Scottish Highlands — Edinburgh .... 40 

VI. Rural England 48 

VII. Manufacturing England 55 

VIII. London — The Commercial Center of the World . 66 

IX. How England is governed — A Visit to Parliament . 76 

X. Rural France 85 

XI. Commercial and Manufacturing France 95 

XII. Paris — The Most Beautiful City of the World . 106 

XIII. How France is governed 117 

XIV. Belgium — The Busiest Workshop of Europe . .125 
XV. A Country below the Sea 133 

XVI. In the Dutch Cities — Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and 

The Hague 144 

XVII. The Land of the Danes . . . . . . .156 

XVIII. Where the Sun shines at Midnight . . . . 163 

XIX. Travels in Norway and Sweden 176 

XX. In the German Empire 186 

XXL The Seaports of Germany 195 

XXII. Berlin 203 

XXIII. The Emperor — How Germany is governed . . .215 

XXIV. Rural and Manufacturing Germany .... 223 
XXV. Up the Rhine to Switzerland . . . . 234 

7 



8 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXVI. Switzerland — The Alps 249 

XXVII. The Swiss People and how they are Governed . 260 

XXVIII. The Upper Danube — From Ulm to Vienna . .271 

XXIX. In the Capital of Austria-Hungary .... 280 

XXX. Hungary and the Hungarians 293 

XXXI. On the Lower Danube from Budapest to the Black 

Sea 301 

XXXII. In Odessa — General View of Russia . . -311 

XXXIII. The Russian Peasants — A Nation of Villages . 320 

XXXIV. In St. Petersburg 330 

XXXV. Moscow — Commercial and Manufacturing Russia . 340 

XXXVI. Down the Volga to the Caspian Sea . . -351 

XXXVII. In Constantinople 361 

XXXVIII. Among the Mohammedans 371 

XXXIX. In Modern Greece 381 

XL. Venice 392 

XLI. Northern Italy 402 

XLII. Rome, the Capital of Italy. . . . . .411 

XLIII. Naples and Mount Vesuvius . . . . .417 

XLIV. Rural Spain ......... 428 

XLV. In the Cities of Spain . . . . . . - . 436 

XLVI. The Kingdom of Portugal ...... 445 

Index 453 



LIST OF MAPS 



Europe . 

British Isles. 

France .... 

Netherlands and Belgium 

Scandinavia . 

German Empire . 



Frontispiece 

5 1 
103 

134 
i57 
194 



Switzerland . 

Austria-Hungary . 

Russia . 

Turkey and Greece 

Italy 

Spain and Portugal 



249 
292 
310 
382 
406 
446 



TRAVELS THROUGH EUROPE. 



*•?< 



I. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. 

IN this little book we are to travel together all over the 
grand division of Europe. Every one who has eyes to 
read can make the tour if he will forget, for the time, that 
he is in America, and imagine himself to be one of our 
party. We shall cross the Atlantic on a big ocean steamer 
and travel slowly from country to country and from place 
to place, on cars and in ships, in carriages and on horse- 
back, on donkeys and on foot, now climbing through the 
snows of the mighty Alps, now sailing by the castles on 
the Rhine and the Danube; now standing on the North 
Cape watching the sun shine at midnight over the cold 
Arctic Sea, and now crawling up to the hot crater of Vesu- 
vius from the orange and lemon groves of southern Italy. 
We shall see the natural wonders of all the great countries ; 
and shall visit the many curious peoples of Europe in their 
cities, on their farms, and in their factories, seeing with our 
own eyes just who they are, how they live, and what they 
are doing in the work of the world. 

This is a big undertaking. Europe, which is to be our 
imaginary home for months to come, is the most important 
of the grand divisions, although it is by no means the 
largest ; indeed, it is smaller than any other grand division 

9 



IO ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. 

except Australia. Nevertheless, it has more people in pro- 
portion to its area than any other. It contains one fourth 
of all the people on the globe; and these people have a 
greater commerce, live better and are more learned, and 
in short have risen to a much higher degree of civilization, 
than the inhabitants of the other divisions. 

This has happened largely on account of the situation and 
character of Europe itself, and also because of the strength 
of its inhabitants. The people are especially interesting 
to us because our ancestors came from Europe, and we 
are all of the same race family. Indeed, we are going to 
see the home of our forefathers, and to travel among those 
who are our first cousins, so to speak. 

The Europeans are chiefly of the Caucasian race, a race 
which is supposed to have come from time to time in 
savage hordes from its home in Asia and to have settled 
in Europe, forming there the three great race families 
which make up nine tenths of the population of that conti- 
nent. The first is the Teutonic people, with whom we are 
most closely related. They are the English, the Germans, 
the Danes, the Dutch, and the Scandinavians ; we shall 
find them in the northwest, along the Rhine and the 
Danube, and in the British Isles. Farther south, about 
the Mediterranean and in France, we shall travel among the 
second branch or the Greco-Latin race, composed of the 
French, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Italians, and 
the Greeks. And farther east, populating almost all east- 
ern Europe, we shall find the Slavonic race, composed 
of Russians, Bulgarians, Servians, Bohemians, and Poles ; 
the people of this race are rough, but they are among the 
strongest of Europe. 

In addition to the Caucasians, Europe has a few people 
of the Mongolian or yellow race, such as the Finns in the 



ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. II 

icy lands of the far north, the Magyars of Hungary, the 
almond-eyed Tartars along, the Volga, and the Moham- 
medan Turks in the Balkan Peninsula and south of the 
Black Sea. The Mongolians, however, are here of minor 
importance. The great race of Europe and the great race 
of the world of to-day is the Caucasian. It is our race, 
the race which has done most of the work of the civilized 
world, and which promises to control the whole world in 
the future. 

But it is not due to the people alone that Europe has 
become the richest and most civilized of all the grand 
divisions. If a merchant has a great trade, if a manu- 
facturer builds up a large business, or a student becomes 
well educated, you will find upon inquiry that his surround- 
ings have had much to do with his success. A store in a 
desert would have but few customers, a factory in a nest 
in the mountains could never get its goods to the people, 
and a man who grew up on a desert island, without a chance 
to see and learn from other men, could never become 
civilized. 

Europe is so situated with reference to other lands that 
it affords exceptional opportunities for its people to manu- 
facture and do business with their neighbors of the other 
continents. It is the most central of all the habitable land 
divisions in the world, and it has such an enormous coast 
line, with many peninsulas and great inland seas, that its 
people have water highways which connect them with one 
another and with all parts of the world. 

More than this, Europe is so cut up by navigable rivers, 
such as the Rhine, the Elbe, the Danube, and the Volga, 
that it is easy to go by water from any one part of it to 
almost all the others. Much of the land is flat and the 
mountain ranges have many passes, so that railroads could 



12 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. 

be built very cheaply, and now one can travel to all parts of 
it by cars. 

Europe has also much excellent soil, and there are no 
vast wastes in it, like parts of our Rocky Mountain plateau, 
the Sahara in Africa, the desert highlands in Asia, and the 
mighty range of the Andes in South America. It has an 
excellent climate, so that its people can work all the year 
round ; and its mountains are so situated with respect to the 
winds that they give it an even rainfall, and furnish many 
small streams which water the land. 

There are, besides, vast mineral regions in which are 
abundant stores of iron, coal, zinc, copper, and lead. The 
coal and iron are so situated that things to sell can be 
made very cheaply, and this, with the abundant and cheap 
transportation, has made the Europeans a great manufac- 
turing people. In a word, they have so many natural re- 
sources, and their situation is such, that they could hardly 
help reaching a high state of civilization and power. 

But we shall see this much better as we go on with our 
travel. Our journey is to be such a long one, that we have 

little time to waste at 
the start. We therefore 
take a train at once for 
New York, where we 
get a steamer for thei 
United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ire- 

A ^ e , land, where our tour is 

An Ocean Steamer. ' 

to begin. 

Our ship is one of the greyhounds of the Atlantic. It 

is an immense vessel, longer than a city block, and so 

wide that it would fill a broad street from one side to the 

other. It has several stories, which are crowded with pas- 




ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. 



13 



sengers and packed with goods bound from New York to 
Great Britain. It has hundreds of little bedrooms or cabins, 
and big parlors with pianos, easy chairs, and great sofas. 
It has mighty steam engines, which move it along by 
means of great screws at the stern, which turn around so 
rapidly in the water outside that its speed is equal to that 




— big parlors with pianos, easy chairs, and great sofas.' 



of a fast railroad train. We ask as to the length of the 
voyage, and the captain tells us we shall cross the Atlantic 
in less than six days. 

We say good-by to our friends at the wharf and wave 
our handkerchiefs from the deck as we steam out into the 
river. The ship takes us down the Hudson past the tall 
buildings of lower New York. We go by the gigantic 



14 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE. 

statue of " Liberty Enlightening the World," coast along 
Staten Island and past Sandy Hook, where we leave 
our pilot, and then sail on out into the broad Atlantic 
Ocean. 

A day or so later, we are beyond the coast of the United 
States, and far out at sea. We move on to the northeast, 
and the fog horn almost deafens us as we steam through 
the mist which, formed by the meeting of the cold cur- 
rent of the Arctic Ocean and the warm waters of the 
Gulf Stream, always hangs over the Banks of Newfound- 
land. It is now pitch dark at night, and the water is so 
rough that the fog horn which sounds every few minutes 
fills us with terror. We remember that we are on the 
greatest of all ocean highways, upon which hundreds of 
steamers are always moving back and forth, to and from 
Europe, and that we are also on the vast fishing banks, 
where hundreds of smaller vessels are taking in cod. We 
tremble when we think that we might easily run down a 
fishing smack, and kill the people within it; or be lost our- 
selves by crashing into one of the big ocean steamers com- 
ing from England. 

By morning, however, we have passed out of the fog, 
and as we walk the deck, we are far out of sight of land, 
on the billowy sea. The wind is fresh, the sun is dancing 
upon the waves, making them sparkle with thousands of 
diamonds, and turning the whitecaps to silver. Every now 
and then we rush from one side of the deck to the other, 
to watch through our glasses the smoke of a steamer away 
off to the right or the left. Now we see a whale spout, 
and now narrowly escape running into a great iceberg 
which is floating towards the Equator, on its way from the 
polar regions. 

As we steam onward, the water grows smoother, for the 



SOUTHERN IRELAND. 



15 



weather is fine. With shovel board, deck quoits, and other 
games, the time passes quickly ; and on the sixth day after 




Deck Quoits. 

leaving New York, the green, rocky shores of Ireland come 
into view, and we soon find ourselves at anchor in the 
harbor of Queenstown, with all Europe lying before us. 



>:**c 



II. SOUTHERN IRELAND. 

WE take our waterproofs and umbrellas with us as we 
step from the steamer. The sun is shining, but Ire- 
land is one of the rainiest countries of Europe, and no one 
knows when the weather will change. All parts of the, 



1 6 IRELAND. 

British Isles are noted for their dampness, and Ireland so 
much so that the people of Ireland have this saying, " In 
England, it rains all day ; in Scotland, it rains all night ; 
but in Ireland, it rains both day and night." 

It is by no means so bad as this, but the air is wonder- 
fully moist, for the country lies right in the track of the 
water-laden winds from the ocean, the rains being precipi- 
tated when they strike the mountains which run around 
the greater part of the coast. 

It is this moisture that makes Ireland so green. The 
foliage looked as fresh as Ohio in June, when we first saw 
it from the deck of the steamer. There are green trees 
and beautiful gardens about the white houses of Queens- 
town, which rise in terraces up the hills from the harbor, 
and we do not wonder that the country is called The 
Emerald Isle. 

Ireland is indeed beautiful. It is about as large as 
Maine, and somewhat like it in character. It is a mass of 
mountains and rolling land, with a low central plain slop- 
ing down to the east, and with many lakes, swamps, and 
morasses. It has much fine farming land, and ought to 
be one of the richest and happiest lands of the globe. 
What it really is we shall learn in our travels. 

But see that crowd of rosy-cheeked, poorly-clad men 
who stand on the dock, cracking their whips, awaiting 
our landing. They are the jaunting car drivers, the jolly 
cabmen of Ireland. Their faces are full of good nature, 
and each has a good word for himself as he asks us in 
his queer brogue, "if we will be having a ride through the 
town, behind his illigant steed, in a car." 

We choose our men, and bargain with them to take us 
to the city of Cork, which is twelve miles away (see map, 
p. 51). We then get on the " cars." Each is a two-wheeled 



SOUTHERN IRELAND. 



17 



affair, with seats high up over the wheels and steps below 
on which our feet rest. We sit back to back in couples, 
facing the fields as we ride, and at first hold on tightly at 
every turn of a corner. The load must be carefully bal- 
anced, and when there are less than two or four passengers 
the driver sits at the side instead of in front. 




Jaunting Car. 

We soon get used to the cars and then the ride is de- 
lightful. The road is smooth, and much of our way is 
under widespreading trees. We ride through fields di- 
vided by green hedges or stone walls coverad with earth 
upon which the grass grows. The land is beautifully roll- 
ing. There is a meadow in which fat cattle are grazing, 
and there is a large flock of sheep on the other side of 
that hedge. Here the men are cutting the grass down 
with scythes, and there is a field where they are hoeing 
the wide rows of dark green stalks, which lie like great 



i8 



IRELAND. 



ribbons upon the black soil. Those are potatoes, a crop 
very important to Ireland, for it forms the chief food of 
the people. 

Where are the barns ? We see none to speak of. Much 
of the grass is fed green, or put up in stacks, after being 




Digging Potatoes. 

made into hay. Now we pass a farm cottage covered with 
vines, with a garden behind it, and a hedge of blood red 
fuchsias shutting it off from the road. The house is quite 
small, but it seems to be comfortable. We are told it is 
the home of a well-to-do tenant farmer. 

We next go by a park of widespreading oaks and tall 
elms, with an ivy-grown porter's lodge at the side of the 
gate which leads into it. Beyond, a great mansion shines 
out through the trees, and our jaunting car driver tells us 
that it belongs to a rich lord whose home is in England. 



SOUTHERN IRELAND. 1 9 

He says that the lord owns an estate here of thousands of 
acres, which he rents out in tracts to the people. Farther 
on we pass another estate and then another, both of the 
owners living out of the country. 

This is the condition of a large part of Ireland. The 
land is divided up into estates, some of which contain as 
many as one hundred thousand acres. In several cases 
one man owns a whole town, all the houses and land belong- 
ing to him being rented out by his agents to the people. 
After the rents are collected they are sent off to Eng- 
land, so that the money is all spent outside Ireland and the 
country is exceedingly poor. The proceeds of the large 
farms go the same way, and as the rents are high there are 
many, many poor in Ireland. There are more than sixty 
thousand farms of less than one acre, and more than that 
number which are between one and five acres in size. 

The soil of Ireland is rich. Nowhere in the world does 
the grass grow more luxuriantly. There are few briers and 
weeds and little undergrowth. In the rocky parts of the 
country the loose stones have been made into walls and 
fences, and the soil gives large crops. In some years 
Ireland yields more than a million bushels of wheat, about 
six million bushels of barley, and almost fifty million 
bushels of oats. The grass is sweet and the cows feeding 
upon it produce the richest of cream, much of which is 
made into butter for export to England. The climate is 
cool and moist, and turnips, cabbages, and potatoes can be 
grown in large quantities. 

The potato might be called the bread food of the Irish. 
It is about the most important crop, and in good years it 
sometimes amounts to more than eighty million bushels. 
This vegetable was not known in the old world until after 
the discovery of America. It originated on the slopes of 

CARP. EUROPE 2 



20 IRELAND. 

the Andes, whence it came to Virginia. It was taken from 
there to Ireland during the days of Queen Elizabeth, and 
in Ireland it grew so well that it has generally come to be 
known as the Irish potato. It is now so necessary to 
Ireland that when the crop fails it often causes a famine. 
In 1846 the potatoes were destroyed by a blight, and during 
that year nearly a million of the poor died of starvation, 
while many thousands left Ireland for the United States. 
Some Irish people had come to our country before then, 
but that was the beginning of a great migration which has 
continued for many years and has given us several million 
excellent citizens. 

We see the homes of the tenant-farmers everywhere as 
we go on with our journey. Some are quite small and 
contain no more than two or three rooms. Many of the 
small houses are roofed with straw, thatch, but being built 
of stone they seem more substantial than the small dwelling 
houses in our country. Others of the houses are quite 
large and they compare favorably with the farm houses of 
the United States. They have gardens about them and 
barns and other buildings near by. 

Notice the children! Many of them are bareheaded 
and barefooted, but their cheeks are rosy with health. 
They go to school during a part of the year in much the 
same way as the children of our country districts at home. 
At other times the boys help their fathers by working on 
the farms, and tending the stock. There are many sheep 
in Ireland, and as we ride through the country we see the 
hills spotted with flocks watched by boys. The little fel- 
lows run this way and that to keep the sheep from straying. 
Now and then one puts his hands to his mouth and calls 
out to a friend who has his flock on an opposite hill, and 
now one shouts " Halloa " to us as we pass. 



SOUTHERN IRELAND, 



As we go on with our journey we pass through regions 
where the tenants are far more prosperous ; the farms are 
larger and their houses are comfortable. The people are 
better dressed and the children well clad. We see better 
houses as we come near Cork, and in the best parts of the 




A farmhouse. 

city we find many fine buildings. Cork is the metropolis 
of southern Ireland. It is about as large as Troy, New 
York. It grows but little although it is a thriving port, 
especially noted for its shipments of meat, live stock, and 
butter. The cattle of southern Ireland make excellent 
beef, and Cork butter brings high prices in the markets of 
England. It is made without salt, and it is so sweet that 
we eat it like cheese. 

We walk down St. Patrick Street, stopping a moment 
at the great cathedral and going into several fine stores to 



22 



IRELAND. 




We walk down St. Patrick Street.' 



see how the Irish do business. We stroll along with many 
well-dressed people under the widespreading elms of the 
Mardyke, the chief promenade of the city, and later on 
take jaunting cars for the Groves of Blarney and Blarney 
Castle. 

These are among the chief sights of southern Ireland. 
Blarney Castle was once the residence of the Earls of 
Clancarty. It has been besieged many times, and among 
its besiegers were Oliver Cromwell and King William III. 
King William destroyed it after the Battle of the Boyne, 
so that now all that is left is the donjon tower. This is in 
good preservation, although the ivy has grown into the 
crevices, and has twined itself about the top. 



SOUTHERN IRELAND. 23 

We climb step by step up the inside of the tower, and 
then, with our friends holding us by the feet, hang down out 
of the windows, and try our best to kiss the famed Blarney 
Stone, set into the wall below. This our guide urges us 
by all means to do, saying that the kiss will give us such 
wheedling tongues that no one can resist us thereafter. 

u Like a magnet its influence such is, 
Attraction it gives all it touches ; 
If you kiss it, they say, from that blessed day 
You may kiss whom you please wid your Blarney." 

And also : — 

" There is a stone 
That whoever kisses, 
Oh ! he never misses 
To grow eloquent, 
Don't hope to hinder him, 
Or to bewilder him, 
Sure he's a pilgrim 
From the Blarney Stone." 





& & m m Jalfl 


.., .If 


USSSi 


m 


■3--. 


-"'jT^'rf "^ 1 ^^^i^-Jsg^llNre^:' '.' " *" • ' 



Blarney Castle. 



2 4 



IRELAND. 



After leaving the castle we wander awhile through the 
Groves of Blarney, which are noted for their beauty and 
their flowers, and then take the railroad through southern 
Ireland to Bantry Bay, whence we go by coach over the 
mountains to Killarney. Our ride is through one of the 
poorest parts of the country. The mountains are covered 




" — the beautiful lakes of Killarney." 

with verdure, but they are rocky and wild, and the scenery 
grows more and more charming as we near the Lakes of 
Killarney. Here the mountains are higher, and seen from 
the lakes they tower up like a huge wall. The tallest of 
them is only about as high as the Alleghenies, but they 
are the biggest mountains in Ireland. The moisture keeps 
them covered with green. 

Ireland has numerous lakes, but those of Killarney are 
by far the most beautiful. They are three in number, the 



CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND. 



25 



upper, middle, and lower. The upper lake is about a half 
mile wide and two miles long, and it is connected with the 
middle lake, of much the same size, by the Long Range 
River, which is three miles in length. The lower lake is 
about as large as the two upper ones. It has numerous 
islands; and the scenery about it, including the purple 
mountains covered with woods, the silvery water, and the 
evergreen shores, unite to make a picture wonderfully 
beautiful. We stroll about the shores of the lake, and 
taking boats row over them from island to island. 



>XKc 



III. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND. 

WE take the cars at Killarney and go north to Limer- 
ick and Galway, important little cities with fine 
harbors on the west coast, and then cross Ireland to Dub- 
lin, passing over the great cen- 
tral plain. Much of our journey 
is through vast swamps filled 
with peat. These are the bog 
lands of Ireland. They cover a 
space about as large as Con- 
necticut, or almost one seventh 
of the whole country. 

Peat is a spongy, vegetable 
matter which might be called 
half -grown coal. In some places 
the peat is almost as hard as 
coal, and in others soft with 
many little fibers matted together. In some of the swamps 
the peat beds are thin, and in others they are thirty or 
forty feet thick. 




"We see women carrying 
great baskets of it." 



26 



IRELAND. 



Peat is the chief fuel of the Irish. We see women car- 
rying great baskets of it home on their backs, and as we 
cross a bog we see men getting the peat out They are 
cutting the soft, wet stuff up into bricks, and laying them 
out to dry in the sun. Later they will carry them off to 
the cabins for their winter fuel, or send them to the towns 
and cities for sale. 




A Peat Bed. 

Peat makes a very hot fire, although it does not blaze 
up like wood. It smolders away, brightening into a glow 
under a draft, and giving out a pale blue smoke. In some 
places logs and branches of fir and oak are found in the 
peat. These are very inflammable, and they burn so 
brightly that they have the place that pine knots had in 
our pioneer times, and the peasants sometimes use them 
for candles. 



CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND. 27 

Many of the bogs are now being drained, for there is 
rich soil under them, and when the peat has been once cut 
away, they make excellent farms. 

Central Ireland is a land of fine farms. The country is 
cultivated like a garden, and there are many great estates 
with thousands of tenant farmers. Some of the farms are 
quite large and their tenants apparently live very well. 
The houses grow better as we come nearer Dublin, and as 
we continue our travels we find that Ireland has a large 
population of rich and well-to-do people as well as of poor. 

Dublin is a magnificent city. ' It is about as big as Min- 
neapolis, and it is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. 
It is the capital of Ireland, being the home of the Lord 
Lieutenant, who is appointed by the ruler of the United 
Kingdom to represent the British government there. It 
is the chief social center of the country. It has magnifi- 
cent homes, libraries, and schools, a famous monument, fine 
statues, and other evidences of culture and wealth. 

Dublin is also noted for its manufactures and commerce. 
It lies on the Irish Channel, not far from the mouth of the 
Liffey, whence all parts of the country can easily be reached 
by water or rail, and just where it is easiest to bring in 
goods from England or to send them across to that country. 
It makes great quantities of beer, whisky, and porter for 
export, and is also famous for weaving a kind of dress 
goods which is sold in our American stores. This goods 
is Irish poplin. It is of silk and wool, and although not so 
fine as the finest of silk, it is almost as beautiful and will 
wear twice as long. 

We spend some time in strolling about through the city, 
visiting the great stores in Grafton Street, where we each 
buy some poplin and handkerchiefs of Irish lace as presents 
to take home to our friends. The lace is wonderfully fine. 



28 



IRELAND. 



It is made by hand, stitch by stitch, on cushions, by the 
women and girls in their cabins. It takes a long time to 
make a lace curtain, and a girl may be employed for a 
month on a single fine handkerchief. 

Leaving the stores, we visit the Bank of Ireland, which 
was built more than a hundred years ago, and then go to 




we visit the Bank of Ireland." 



the castle where the Lord Lieutenant lives. We next 
photograph the statues of Tom Moore, the poet, and the 
Duke of Wellington, both natives of Dublin, and then take 
a walk through the grounds of Trinity College, meeting 
scores of students in black caps and gowns, and remember- 
ing that Oliver Goldsmith, the poet, and Dean Swift, who 
wrote " Gulliver's Travels," were once students here. 

Later we rest ourselves in the great cathedrals of Christ 
Church and Saint Patrick, and then go out to Phoenix 
Park, which the Irish say is the finest pleasure ground of 
the world. It has large fields for cricket and golf, and 
miles of beautiful drives through the trees. In the woods 
there are many red deer, so tame that they eat from our 
hands and allow us to pet them. 

During our stay we call at the Town Hall and there 
meet the Lord Mayor. He tells us that Dublin is a pro- 
gressive city and that it owns the docks and wharves, the 
markets, the waterworks, and the electric lighting plant. 
It maintains a museum and library as well as zoological 
gardens, an art gallery, and a model school. 



CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND. 



29 



We might cross the Irish Channel from Dublin to Eng- 
land, but we wish to see something of North Ireland before 
visiting Great Britain, so we take the train for the Giant's 
Causeway and Belfast, where we can get a ship which 
will land us in Scotland. We travel all day long through 
a beautiful country, passing many towns and numerous 
villages. 







JFlP 


liiiifi 


11 - 






IF ' U J 

Ik 


— _ 



Trinity College. 



At last we reach Portrush, a town situated on the 
extreme north coast on a bold headland. It is dark when 
we arrive, and we stay at the hotel over night. The 
next morning we take an electric car and ride along 
the coast to the famed Giant's Causeway. 

What a curious formation it is ! As we step from the 
cars we see acres of huge stone columns rising out of the 



30 IRELAND. 

sea, as though they were piles driven down by giants 
They are so close together that we walk upon them. Our 
guide tells us there are forty thousand in all, but we do 
not stop to count. 

The columns are of different shapes and of different 
heights. Some are triangular, some pentagonal, and others 
octagonal. Some rise in tiers like so many steps, and 
others are so arranged that they look like the pipes of an 
organ, while one formation is like a great pulpit. 

We walk about on the stones, sitting down now and then 
to sketch the wonderful scenes, or make photographs of 
them and our party. We lean over the columns which 
surround a great hole called the giant's well, and look 
down into the water; and as we do so an old Irish woman 
offers us a cup, telling us that if we will drink some water 
from the well, making a wish as we swallow, our wish will 
come true before the year closes. We laugh, and give 
the old woman a penny, but decline to tempt the fates in 
that way. 

After a time we hire a boat and are rowed out for a view 
of the Causeway from the sea. The columns extend far 
out, gradually losing themselves in the water. As we are 
rowed about our boatman gives us the Irish tradition as to 
the origin of the Causeway. He says that it was built be- 
cause of a quarrel between Fin McCoul, the champion 
giant of Ireland, and one of the champion giants of 
Scotland. The Scotch giant dared all the world to come 
and fight him. He had heard of Fin, and he sent him a 
message saying that if it weren't for getting wet he would 
cross over to Ireland and give him a drubbing. Upon 
this Fin applied to his king, who gave him permission to 
build this great causeway from Ireland to Scotland in order 
that the Scotch giant might come over dry shod to fight 



CENTRAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND. 



31 




" — the famed Giant's Causeway." 

him. The boastful Scotchman did come, and Fin gave 
him a whipping and sent him back home. After this 
there was no further need of the Causeway, and according 
to the story it was again thrown down into the sea. 

We find Belfast full of interest. It is a beautiful city, 
about as large as Washington, lying on an excellent har- 
bor which gives it connection with Scotland, England, and 
all other parts of the world. It is the chief of the Irish 
manufacturing cities, being so near the coal fields of Scot- 
land that it can get its fuel for making steam very cheaply. 
We visit the shipyards, where some of the finest of ocean 
steamers are built, and go through the vast mills for weav- 
ing cottons and linens. The linen mills are especially fine, 
for the firm moist land of this region is well fitted for flax, 
and the Irish farmers understand how to prepare it for 
cloth. The most beautiful of tablecloths and napkins are 



32 SCOTLAND. 

made in these mills ; in others linen lawns for dresses and 
handkerchiefs are made; and thousands of the shirt bosoms 
worn in America come from Belfast. There are many flax 
farms in the country near by, which supply a part of the 
linen used in the great factories in the city. 

We devote one of our mornings to visiting the largest 
linen mill of the world. Its buildings cover eight acres, 
and more than twenty-five thousand people are employed 
by its managers to turn the flax into cloth. We go through 
room after room filled with men, women, and children, 
hard at work making all kinds of fine linens. The women 
and children are barefooted, but they look healthy and 
happy. They receive very low wages, although they work 
from half-past six in the morning until six in the evening, 
with recesses for breakfast and dinner. 

Near the mill we see bleaching farms, great fields upon 
which the cloth is spread out on the grass in the sun and 
sprinkled until it grows white. We learn that Ireland has 
been noted for its linen for more than six hundred years, 
and that until 1805 its linens were all made by hand. Now 
machinery does almost everything, although the very finest 
of the damask table linens are still made on hand looms. 



>**< 



IV. GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE. 

WE have left Belfast and crossed the Irish Channel 
to Glasgow, in the lowlands of Scotland. These 
lowlands are the most important part of the country. 
Scotland has only a little more than one half as much land 
as England, and less than one fourth of it can be cultivated 
or used for grass growing. You can get some idea of how 



GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE. 33 

the land lies if you will make your hand like a cup and 
imagine it to be Scotland. There is an expanse of high- 
lands at the north corresponding to the upper part of 
your fingers ; there are uplands at the south like the hand 
near the wrist, and there is a basin of lowlands, the district 
where we now are, represented by the palm. 

The lowland district contains more than half of the 
people in Scotland. It has all the large cities and is cov- 
ered with villages. It is gridironed with railroads ; it has 
several rivers, and a canal has been cut across it from 
Grangemouth to Dumbarton. On the east is the Firth 
of Forth and the fine harbor of Leith, and on the west is 
the Firth of Clyde with the wonderful harbor of Glasgow. 
The lowlands of Scotland are so underlaid with coal and 
iron that they have become one of the chief manufacturing 
places of the globe. There are hundreds of mines, from 
which millions of tons of coal are taken out every year. 
The country is dotted with factories and foundries. Some 
towns are noted for making cottons, others for woolens, 
and some, like Dundee, are devoted to linens and jute. 
We find that Scotland has industries of almost every de- 
scription, including machinery and hardware. 

Glasgow reminds us of Pittsburg. We see its smoke for 
hours before we come to it. We steam amongst ships 
from all parts of the world in entering the Firth, and sail 
on up the Clyde to the city through the chief shipbuilding 
center of the world. The Clyde is a narrow stream, but 
its banks are lined with the skeletons of great ocean steam- 
ships, and we are almost deafened by the noise of the 
thousands of hammers upon the cold steel. The works 
are right out in the fields. In some places the crops are 
growing about them, and as we stand on the deck of our 
steamer, we look down upon cozy farmhouses, and see 



34 



SCOTLAND. 



the cattle grazing on the meadows undisturbed by the din. 
The Clyde grows narrower as we approach Glasgow, and 
as we sail on into the heart of the city it is like a canal, 
with long lines of ships tied to its banks. 

The citizens of Glasgow are now very proud of the 
Clyde. It is due to them that it has become, navigable 
clear out to the sea, and has thus aided in making Glasgow, 




The Clyde. 



not only the manufacturing center of Scotland, but also, 
next to London, the largest city of Great Britain in com- 
merce and trade. Glasgow remained a village long after 
it was founded, for the Clyde was so shallow that no ships 
could come to it. Much of the land upon which the city 
now stands was then covered with marsh, which was over- 
flowed at high tide. Seagoing vessels could come only to 
Greenock, at the mouth of the river, and for a long time 
many thought that Greenock would be the chief town of 



GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE. 35 

the Scottish lowlands. Then the people of Glasgow deter- 
mined to have a port of their own. They began to deepen 
the Clyde and to wall it in. They built docks upon it, and 
about a half century before we declared our independence 
of England, a vessel of sixty tons was able to sail from 
Glasgow for New York. Later the channel was deepened 
still more, and now steamers of three thousand tons can 
come right into the heart of the city, and men-of-war, 
three hundred times as large as that sixty-ton vessel which 
made the first voyage, are being built in its suburbs. 

We are told that the Clyde was the first river of Europe 
to be navigated regularly by steam vessels. The little 
steamboat Comet, which drew only four feet of water, 
made voyages upon it in 1812; and six years later a line 
of steamships was established to connect Glasgow with 
Ireland. 

We are interested to learn that the United States has 
had much to do with making Glasgow such a great city. 
As soon as the Clyde was deepened, a thriving trade grew 
up between Glasgow and Virginia and Maryland. The 
chief article sold was tobacco, which was sent from the 
plantations direct to Glasgow, and from there distributed 
to all parts of Great Britain. The business was profitable, 
and many of the Scotch fortunes of to-day were founded 
upon it. Later on, the abundant coal and iron near by 
caused the building of all sorts of factories, and shiploads 
of our cotton were sent here to be made into cloth. 

Glasgow is about half the size of Philadelphia, and it 
is one of the most substantial cities of Europe. It has 
fine buildings of sandstone, granite, and marble from the 
quarries of Scotland, and its stores, with their immense 
stocks of goods, are equal to the best on Broadway. 

The streets are wide and well paved, and crowded with 

CARP. EUROPE — 3 



36 



SCOTLAND. 



people. We take a walk down Argyle Street, the com- 
mercial center of Glasgow. The traffic is as great as that 
of lower New York. We are jostled by the crowds on 
the pavements, and have to ask the policemen to help us 




"We take a walk down Argyle Street." 

across through the jam of wagons, carriages, and cars, 
which are always moving up and down street. It is almost 
as bad in the fashionable shopping section of Buchanan 
Street. Here costly goods of all kinds are displayed in the 
windows, the people on the sidewalks are well dressed, and 
we see that there must be plenty of money in Scotland. 

But let us take a street car and ride on through the 
city. The conductor comes forward and we ask him the 
fare. He tells us it is only a ha'penny, or one cent of our 
money, and we learn that Glasgow has about the cheapest 
car fares of the world. This is largely because the city 



GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE. 



37 



itself owns the street cars and manages them at cost for 
the people. It is the same with the ferries, the gas 
plant, the waterworks, and even with the concert halls; 
so that the citizens here get all such things at cost. 
The town of Glasgow takes the place of a father, so to 
say, in caring for its people. The city government builds 
houses to let to workingmen at very low rents ; it has 
lodging houses where the poor can stay for less than ten 




University of Glasgow. 

cents a night, and fine public baths where the regular 
charge is four cents a swim, with special rates for 
school children. It has public washhouses where a 
woman can have the use of a stall with hot and cold 
water for four cents an hour, and where there are hot 
air chambers in which she can quickly dry her washing 
so as to take it home with her, ready for ironing. 



38 



SCOTLAND. 



Glasgow has good public schools, as have all parts 
of Scotland. Nearly all the Scotch read and write, 
and it is the ambition of every poor man to send his chil- 
dren to college. There are great universities at Glasgow 
and Edinburgh, and academies in many small cities. We 
visit the University of Glasgow, which stands on a hill 
high over the Clyde, and climb to the top of its tower 




— the cemetery rising in terraces." 



for the view. The tower is three hundred feet high, and 
we are far above the city, which fills the valley of the 
Clyde for miles. We see it extending on and on, lined 
with factories, foundries, and shipyards, almost to the sea. 
About, and even in the city itself, are hundreds of tall, 
round, red smokestacks, each pouring forth a volume of 
smoke into the low-hanging clouds, while on the house 
chimneys are hundreds of queer little pots about a foot 
long and six or eight inches wide. They look like mam- 



GLASGOW AND THE CLYDE. 39 

moth combs growing out of the bricks ; they are white 
tiles, placed on the tops of the chimneys to keep them 
from smoking. 

Notice that great building just below us, with the ceme- 
tery rising in terraces behind it. That is the Glasgow 
cathedral, where John Knox once preached, and there 
in the business part of the city is George Square. That 
statue of the man in a shepherd's plaid, standing near the 
center, on that column eighty feet high, represents the 
great novelist, Sir Walter Scott, and the bronze statue near 
by is that of James Watt, a native of Scotland, who, in 
1763, first made steam do good work for man. He invented 
the first condensing steam engine, and was in reality the 
father of the vast manufacturing interest represented by 
the thousands of smokestacks about us, and by the fac- 
tories, steamships, and railroads all over the world. 

Leaving Glasgow, we visit the different parts of manu- 
facturing Scotland. In Paisley, a few miles away, we see 
four thousand men, women, and children turning our raw 
cotton into the thread wound upon spools which is used 
for sewing all over the world. In other factories they 
are weaving silk, and in others the famed Paisley shawls. 
In the towns of the Tweed valley we visit woolen mills, 
where they are weaving the Scotch tweeds and Scotch 
cheviots which our tailors import for fine clothing. The 
term tweed comes from the Tweed valley, and the cheviot 
cloths are so called because much of the wool of which 
they are made is cut from the sheep that graze on the 
Cheviot Hills. 



40 SCOTLAND. 



V. THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS— EDINBURGH 
— THE HOMES OF ROBERT BURNS AND 
WALTER SCOTT. 

WE shall take our guns with us this morning. We 
are going into the Highlands, and may get an in- 
vitation to hunt upon one of the big estates. In the past, 
northern Scotland was owned by the Highlanders, who 
lived chiefly by raising sheep and cattle and by hunting. 
They were divided up into clans or tribes, much as our 
American Indians were. Each clan was one family, some 
clans containing thousands of cousins, all of whom went 
by one name and fought and worked together. Every clan 
had its chief, and was ready to fight at any time with 
the neighboring clans or outsiders. The clans had their 
own war cries, and badges and shawls woven in different 
plaids. The chiefs had great castles, and maintained a 
sort of court about them. 

At that time the lands belonged to the clans, being 
divided out from time to time among the members by the 
chiefs. Later on, they passed into the hands of the chiefs, 
and the poor cousins served as their tenants. Then the 
chiefs found they could get more for the lands by selling 
or letting them as hunting grounds to outsiders than by 
rearing sheep and cattle. They drove the poor tenants 
away, sometimes burning the cabins over their heads to 
keep them from returning. 

One by one they sold their farms, so that the greater 
part of northern Scotland now belongs to rich strangers. 
The country is one of large estates, seventy men owning 
more than half of it. Many of the estates are held by Eng- 



THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 



41 





W $ * 




BE 








■ ••7"' - 


% 


- 


V; A 


! 7 l'i' •'"" 


£ ' 






^a\ 


:y^6 


: &> 




■HP^ 








, ^ , *,,. — . . v*. 




* 


^ -« -— * ' 


.*^i.^>"-\ •' " .^ ; «■" 





Loch Katrine. 



lishmen and Americans, who come here during a part of 
each year to shoot game, and the demand for such shoot- 
ings is so great that the pastures have been allowed to 
grow wild to supply it. Hills and valleys, upon which 
hundreds of cattle and sheep once fed, are now given over 
to the deer and grouse; and there are millions of acres 
devoted to hunting and fishing. There are deer parks of 
thousands of acres, vast forests in which all but the owners 
are forbidden to go, and where the poor Highlander will be 
surely arrested if he kills the deer or snares birds or rabbits. 
There are more than four thousand shooting grounds. 
Some of the shootings bring high prices, and it is said 
that the Duke of Sutherland receives about a quarter of 
a million dollars a year as rent for his fish streams and 
forests, 



42 



SCOTLAND. 



We skirt the edge of the Highlands as we go from 
Glasgow to Edinburgh by the Trossachs, seeing many 
men hunting grouse with dogs and guns as we ride in 
stages over the moors. We sail over Loch Lomond and 
across Loch Katrine, through the scenes described in Sir 
Walter Scott's poem, " The Lady of the Lake." 

All the Highlands of Scotland are beautiful, and the 
Trossachs are especially so. The moorlands are covered 
with heather, — low bushes which look like sprigs of dark 
green pine set into the ground, and which, with their little 
rose-colored blossoms, coat the low hills and the sides of 
the mountains with masses of dark green and rose. 




"Edinburgh castle stands on a rock." 

We stop at Stirling to see the great castle where Mary 
Stuart was crowned queen of the Scots, and afterward 
visit the chamber in the castle at Edinburgh where her 
son, James VI of Scotland, who was afterward James I 
of England, was born. Edinburgh castle stands on a 



THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 



43 



rock three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the 
sea, and when you read more of English history you will 
learn what a terrible time Queen Mary had here. 

Mary was the last ruler under whom Scotland was a sepa- 
rate nation, for her son James became king of both England 
and Scotland, which since 
then have been united. The 
Scottish Highlanders are now 
among the best soldiers of 
the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland. We see 
many of them when we visit 
the castle in Edinburgh. 
They are dressed in the cos- 
tume once common through- 
out the Highlands, and at first 
we hardly know whether they 
are women or men. They 
wear plaid shawls on their 
shoulders, and have kilted 
skirts of bright colors falling 
in plaits from the waist to 
the knee. Their knees are bare, and 
below them that the plaid stockings begin. They wear 
turbanlike caps with ribbons at the back, and their shoes 
are bound around with white canvas bands. Each man 
carries a sword and a musket, and has a fur pouch at his 
belt, while some have a knife in the top of one stocking. 
We see boys wearing this costume on the streets of Edin- 
burgh, although most of the children dress as we do. 

Excepting the soldiers, the style of dress of the Scotch is 
much the same as our own. Some of the poorer women and 
children go about without hats, and some are barefooted. 




Highlander. 

it is several inches 



44 



SCOTLAND. 



We meet fishwives from Newhaven, in short gowns and 
bare arms, carrying great baskets of fish on their backs; 

and out in the country we 
see women standing in tubs, 
with their skirts tucked up 
to their knees, treading the 
dirt out of the clothing, in- 
stead of using washboards as 
we do. 

The Scotch people are 
noted for their thrift and 
economy. Both men and 
women are industrious 
and saving, and the women 
hoe in the fields and work in 
the stores, the hotels, and the 
factories. 

We are delighted with Ed- 
inburgh. It is a beautiful 
city, noted as a center of culture and learning. More 
books are published here than in any other city of Great 
Britain, except London ; its university is attended by 
about three thousand students, and it has so many great 
scholars that it is sometimes called the Athens of the 
United Kingdom. 

We are in the city on Sunday. How quiet it is ! The 
cars are not running, the stores are all closed, and the 
streets are almost deserted. The Scotch keep the Sab- 
bath more strictly than any other people of Europe. They 
go to church or remain at their homes. There are no 
Sunday newspapers, and it is hard to get a carriage for a 
ride in the parks. We go to the cathedral and find the 
church filled. It was here that John Knox preached, and 




We meet fishwives." 



EDINBURGH. 



45 



by taking a little walk down High Street we can see the 
old stone house where he lived. He was a great religious 
reformer who did much to make the world better. Over 
the door of his house we see the words carved in the stone, 
" Love God above all and your neighbor as yourself." 




we see women standing in tubs." 



Have you ever heard of the great bridge which crosses 
the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh ? It is bigger than the 
one connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is the me- 
chanical wonder of Scotland. It is an enormous structure 
of stone, iron, and steel, more than a mile and a half long, 
built upon piers with spans high over the water. We get 



46 SCOTLAND. 

some idea of its size when we are told that it has cost 
more than our Capitol building at Washington, and that 
the rivets used to fasten the iron together are so many 






Forth Bridge. 

that, if placed end to end, they would reach from Edinburgh 
clear to the end of Great Britain and across the English 
Channel to France. 

From Edinburgh we make a trip to Ayr, where Robert 
Burns, the great poet of Scotland, was born. The train 
takes us through rich fields separated by green hedges and 
moss-grown stone walls. *The crops are luxuriant, and we 
see that the lowlands have excellent farms. There are 
many small farmhouses with stables about them, but no 
great barns such as you see in our country. 

Robert Burns was a farmer, and he plowed the fields 
just as that farmer is plowing them now over there at the 
side of the road. His home was near Ayr, where we leave 
the train and take a carriage to drive out to Alloway, the 
little village in which he first saw the light of this world. 

We visit the cottage in which he was born. It is a stone 



THE HOMES OF BURNS AND SCOTT. 



47 



hut with roof of thatched straw. The door is low, and 
there is now a turnstile within it so arranged that we have 
to pay a penny before we enter. The floor is of stone, 
and at the side of the chimney is the iron crane which 
was used to hold the kettle over the fire. After leaving 
the cottage we visit the ruins of Alloway kirk, then walk 
for a time upon the beautiful banks of the Doon, and 




Where Burns was born. 



after a lunch in Tam O'Shanter's Inn in Ayr, go back to 
Edinburgh. 

Another day is spent at Abbotsford, the home of the 
great novelist, Sir Walter Scott. The house is much like 
a castle. It is a grand stone structure on the banks of the 
Tweed, with large windows giving magnificent views. We 
walk through the library, where Scott's interesting stories 
were written, and admire his collection of weapons, includ- 
ing Rob Roy's gun and a pistol which once belonged to 



48 



ENGLAND. 




Abbotsford. 



Napoleon Bonaparte. Afterward we visit Melrose Abbey, 
and also the Abbey of Dryburgh, where Scott was buried, 
and then take a train south for England. 



>XX< 



VI. RURAL ENGLAND. 



WE have crossed the Cheviot Hills and passed over 
the border of Scotland into merrie old England. 
How fresh the air is and how luxuriant the crops ! The 
country is like a garden, and even the banks on the sides 
of the railroad are velvety green. 

We have seats near the windows in one of the little 
rooms or compartments into which the English cars are 
divided. The door is in the side of the car instead of at 



RURAL ENGLAND. 49 

the end. There, it opens. The conductor stands on the 
footboard outside as he asks for our tickets. Now he has 
shut the door and gone on to the next compartment. We 
wonder how it would be if a crazy man were with us. 
The door is locked, and the car is now moving at forty 
miles an hour ; but fortunately we have the room to our- 
selves and feel comparatively safe. 

We find the English railroads very good. England is so 
small and its people do so much business that they can 
afford to have a good 
railroad system. 



c : 




" We find the English rail- 
roads very good." 

There is a network 01 tracks 

covering the country. There are so M*V- 

many tracks that if they were joined 

end to end they would reach almost around 

the world. The roadbeds are smooth, and even the small 

stations are of stone with solid stone platforms. Every 

station has its garden about it, and the grass is as smoothly 

cut as a beautiful lawn. 

We find that on every train there are two classes of 
cars, and that some trains have three. The cars of the 
first class are fine, and those of the second and third are 
almost as comfortable ; as they are much cheaper, we fre- 
quently travel third class. Indeed it is a common saying 
in England that only princes and fools travel first class. 

The English railroads have some of the fastest trains of 



5o 



ENGLAND. 



the world. We might have gone from Edinburgh to 
London on the " Flying Scotchman," at an average 
speed of more than a mile a minute ; but we are traveling 
leisurely, stopping now and then to visit places of interest. 
Notice the farms as we go ! The fields are divided by 
green hedgerows. There is a flock of fat sheep in that 






v£& 






1 — a little farm settlement.' 



meadow and farther on are some beautiful cattle. This 
country is noted for its delicious mutton, and its people pride 
themselves on " the roast beef of old England." There is 
a man holding the handles of a plow which two horses 
are dragging along, and in the next field a steam plow is 
puffing as it drives the share through the earth. The peo- 
ple use mowers, reapers, and threshing machines. They 
are good farmers, and they have the best farming tools. 



52 ENGLAND. 

Look at the farmhouses ! We see many of them as we 
go by on the railroad. Each has a barn, sheds, and hay- 
stacks about it, forming a little farm settlement. The 
barns are different from ours. They are broader and 
lower, and some have heavy thatched roofs. They are 
used chiefly for stables, and for storing grain and tools. 
The hay and straw are ricked up out of doors, the tops of 
the ricks being thatched or covered with canvas. 

How old everything is! The moss is growing on the 
roof of that barn, and the side of that farmhouse is cov- 
ered with ivy. The hedges look as though they had al- 
ways been here, and these roads were traveled by men 
when the only roads in our country were Indian trails. 

Now we get an outlook over a valley. There is a stream 
flowing through it lined with wide-branching trees. The 
stream is crossed here and there by little bridges made of 
heavy stones closely fitted together, and now half covered 
with moss. The bridges, like everything else, are substan- 
tial, for the English believe in doing things well, and think 
that the best is the cheapest. We see this in their rail- 
roads, their houses, and in all public improvements. 

Look again over the valley. The fields have little paths 
through them. The people usually cut across lots to visit 
their neighbors, and we see many persons strolling through 
the green meadows. The English are great walkers ; the 
ordinary boy or girl here thinks nothing of a five-mile 
tramp in the country. They are fond of outdoor sports. 
We frequently pass parties playing golf, and now and 
then see a crowd of boys playing cricket, the English 
national game. 

But what is that great stone building which rises like a 
fortification upon the hill in the distance ? That is the 
ruins of an old English castle like Kenilworth, Warwick, 



RURAL ENGLAND. 53 

and other castles of which we have read. It was built 
hundreds of years ago, during the Middle Ages, as the 
home of a knight or baron with his chief soldiers or re- 
tainers. If we should enter it, we should find that it 
has narrow stone stairs, that its rooms are lighted by slits 
in the walls or by small barred windows, and heated by 
great fireplaces. We should see that even the best parts 
of the castle are gloomy and dreary, and that the Ameri- 
can workingman of to-day has more comforts than that 
noble had in the past, even though he owned all the land 
he could see from the top of his castle. 

The most of England is still in the hands of a few peo- 
ple. It is the property of the nobility and other rich men, 
who rent it out to the farmers, charging them from five to 
twenty dollars an acre per year for its use. 

We see the houses of many of these rich landowners as 
we ride on through the country. There is one rising out 
of the grove of trees just beyond us. It is a great mansion, 
shut off from the road by high walls and surrounded by a 
beautiful park. It has a fine garden and hothouses, and 
a velvety lawn. Its owner has perhaps a score of servants, 
and he may own many farms. He probably has woods 
stocked with pheasants, partridges, and other game in- 
tended for his own shooting, which the poor people dare 
not touch. There are such estates in all parts of England. 
They are usually willed by the father to the eldest son, 
and thus kept in the same family from generation to 
generation. 

But the train has stopped at a station. It is a village, 
and we stay over night. The houses are substantial. 
Many of them are old, and some are covered with vines. 
The walls are thick, and the roofs of tile or thatch often 
extend far out. Most of the houses have little gardens in 

CARP. EUROPE — 4 



54 



ENGLAND. 



front of them. There are rose bushes and other plants 
reminding us of our gardens at home. 

That house on the corner, with a sign " The King's 
Arms " over the door, is the public house or hotel, and that 
little building with the big tower farther down is one of the 
churches, while still farther on is the school. 




" — still farther on is the school." 

The people on the street dress and look much like our 
people at home. Some of the storekeepers have come 
out at the sound of the train, and they stare at the Ameri- 
cans as they pass. There, on the left of the road, is a 
shoemaker, and beyond are a carpenter, a butcher, and a 
grocer. Each wears a white apron which covers almost 
the whole front of his person. This is common with many 
of the mechanics of England. 



MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 



55 



See that man with the white smock over his clothes. He 
looks as though he had put on his nightshirt over his ordi- 
nary suit. He is a carter, and is driving a team of four 
horses bringing in a cartload of grain. The cart is bigger 
than any used in 
our country. Its 
wheels are broader 
and it will carry far 
more than our com- 
mon farm wagon. 
The horses are 
hitched up tandem ; 
they have heavy 
harness, and each 
has a bell fastened 
to his collar, which 
jingles merrily as he tramps along. Now another team 
has come down the road, and the two are passing. See, 
each turns to the left ! This is the custom in England. 
Drivers always go to the left, but foot passengers turn to 
the right as we do. 

VII. MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 




"See that man with the white smock over his 
clothes." 



AT one time the farms of England were more important 
than her factories. The English not only raised all 
the food they needed, but were able to export wheat to 
other countries. It is far different to-day. The soil still 
produces abundantly, but the people have so grown in 
number that if all the farms were worked they could not 
supply England with enough to eat for one month. The 
result is that most of the food is brought in from abroad, and 



56 ENGLAND. 

the greater part of it from the United States. Steamships 
loaded with grain, flour, and meat are always leaving our 
seaports for different parts of Great Britain. The English 
are raising less and less food every year, and there are 
now more than six persons in the factories to every one on 
the farms. 

To-day we shall travel through some of the great manu- 
facturing districts. We go on southward, passing many 
towns and stopping at big cities half hidden in smoke. 
The farms are still large, but the landscape is dotted with 
groves of smokestacks much as our Middle States are 
dotted with trees. Those smoking groves are the sites of 
manufacturing villages. 

We are now in a district where the whole country is one 
vast workshop. We pass mines where sooty-faced men 
are getting coal and iron out of the earth. We go by 
long trains of coal cars, by great piles of slag, the refuse 
of the furnaces which are turning the ore into pig iron and 
steel. See how their tall chimneys are pouring out smoke 
and flames into the sky. The din of the machinery from 
the vast, ugly, many-windowed factories almost drowns the 
noise of the train. 

How dirty everything is ! The towns and cities are 
black with the smoke, the air is full of soot, and we look 
with disgust on our soiled collars and cuffs, each wonder- 
ing if his face can possibly be as dirty as that of his 
neighbor. 

We ask if much of England is like this, and are told 
that it is, and that the English are one of the chief manu- 
facturing nations. They make more woolen cloth than 
any other people. They weave enough cotton every year 
to carpet a road wider than almost any road in our country 
clear around the world. They make more things out of 



Manufacturing England. 57 

iron, steel, and copper than any other nation of Europe, and 
there is scarcely an article in common use which they do 
not manufacture for sale. They sell more goods to other 
countries than any other people, notwithstanding much of 
the stuff which they use in making the goods comes from 
abroad. 

But why is this little island such an important manu- 
facturing country ? 

We shall see some of the reasons as we travel from one 
busy district to another. In the first place, England has 
railroads and canals almost everywhere, and so many good 
seaports that it costs but little to put the goods on the 
ships which are to take them to the markets. The Eng- 
lish are so rich that they have plenty of money to build 
factories. They are a thrifty people, and skilled in hand- 
ling tools and machinery. But what is still more important, 
they have the richest coal fields of Europe, and their coal 
fields are near the sea. We shall find the chief factories 
right in the coal fields, for it is cheaper to use the coal 
where it is mined than to carry it over the country. The 
freight rates are so low, however, that we find factories 
almost everywhere. 

We first visit the Northumberland coal fields, in north- 
eastern England ; they are the largest in Great Britain, 
producing thirty million tons of coal every year and feed- 
ing many great factories. We stop at Newcastle at the 
mouth of the Tyne, and watch the great steamers loading 
coal for shipment abroad, and wander about through its 
noisy shipbuilding yards, which are almost as large as 
those we saw on the Clyde below Glasgow. 

Farther south we enter the coal fields of Yorkshire. It 
is smokier than ever, but we forget all about the dirt as 
we go from town to town and from factory to factory, 



58 



ENGLAND. 




We stop at Newcastle." 



seeing many wonderful things. We spend some days in 
Leeds on the River Aire (ar), visiting the great woolen 
mills and watching the sales in the cloth halls on market 
days. Leeds is the center of the English woolen indus- { 
try, and in it and in the towns near by all sorts of weaving" 
are done. We watch them making all kinds of cloth, and 
learn that England has long been noted for its woolens. 
It employs more than a quarter of a million people in its 
cloth factories, and consumes vast quantities of wool from 
Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. We visit the mills 
where silk velvets are woven, go to Halifax to learn all 
about carpets, and at Bradford watch them make worsteds. 
At Dewsbury, near Leeds, we visit one of the chief 
blanket factories, where our guide informs us that the 



MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 59 

first blanket ever made was woven in 1 340 by an English- 
man named Thomas Blanket ; his goods were so peculiar 
that the people called them after his name, blankets. We 
listen without comment, although we know that blanket is 
from a French word meaning white. 

Do you want a good pocketknif e ? 

They make some of the best knives in the world at 
Sheffield, in this same Yorkshire coal district. The city 
lies in a nest in the hills at the junction of several streams 
with the Don. It is as smoky as Pittsburg, and has 
almost as many factories and foundries. It is the center 
of the cutlery industry, being especially noted for its 
razors, scissors, and all kinds of fine tools, which it exports 
to all parts of the world. It has been making tools for 
three hundred years, and it annually sends hundreds of 
thousands of knives across the ocean to us. 

Let us enter one of the knife factories. A knife is a 
little thing, but it may give us a lesson in geography. 
There is a box of samples showing the different kinds of 
knives made in this factory. Take a dozen knives out 
and look at them. Open one and draw the edge of the 
blade across your thumb nail. It cuts smoothly and is 
as sharp as a razor. That blade was made of iron from 
Sweden ; it was dug from the mines there and sent across 
the North Sea to England, that the workmen might have 
the best ore for their steel. 

Look now at the other parts of the knife, and see how 
each of them has traveled far and long to get here. Shef- 
field makes one think of Cinderella, for she sits in the 
ashes of her coal pits and prays to her fairy godmother, 
Commerce, who straightway waves her wand and per- 
forms miracles for her. The fairy raises her hand, and 
the miners of Sweden dig out this ore and it is carried to 



60 ENGLAND. 

the ship. She moves it again, and starts the metals in 
those brass rivets from their homes in the mountains of 
South America and the United States. Again, and the 
nickel which plated the ends of the handles comes from 
the mines of Canada across the Atlantic Ocean, while the 
silver in the name plate was probably contributed by the 
inhabitants of Peru, and crossed the Isthmus of Panama, or 
went south around through the Strait of Magellan, before 
it began its longer ocean voyage to Sheffield. 

Observe the variety of materials in the knives, and 
wonder what a story each handle could tell of its travels. 
Here is one of ivory from the wilds of Central Africa. 
The handle of that knife beside it came from the horn of 
a reindeer, which perhaps dragged the sleds of fur-clad 
people over the snows of Siberia ; and this lady's penknife 
has a handle made from an opalescent shell which was 
once the house of a pearl oyster in the waters of our 
Philippine Islands. There are some of brown shell from 
the backs of tortoises which were crawling along the 
banks of the Amazon when they were captured for Shef- 
field, and just beyond is one made from the horns of 
an East Indian buffalo. This white-handled knife is 
bound with plates of vegetable ivory grown on the palm 
trees of tropical South America, and those bone handles 
have come from skeletons of cattle which once galloped 
over our Western plains with cowboys behind them. The 
manager tells us they are made from the shank bones, and 
are known to the trade as Boston bones. We think he 
should rather name them Kansas City, Omaha, or Chicago 
bones, for it is at those cities that most of our cattle are 
killed for shipment to Europe. 

If we had time to spend in manufacturing England, we 
should find Dame Commerce performing wonders like 



MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 6l 

these for every city and village. She sets all nations to 
work to get out material for the English to make over into 
things for themselves, or to ship abroad for sale. We 
should see how hides and skins are torn from the backs of 
all sorts of animals to keep busy the half million English- 
men who are working in leather, how the wool is clipped 
from millions of sheep in other parts of the world to sup- 
ply her vast army of weavers, and how silkworms are 
raised and their cocoons reeled off by the almond-eyed 
people of China and Japan to furnish thread for the 
factories near Leeds which we saw making silks, ribbons, 
and velvets. 

We next visit Birmingham, the industrial capital of 
middle England. It is situated where was once the forest 
of Arden, a dense woods which in former times extended 
through Warwickshire and others of the Midland Counties 
of England. In the country about there are iron mines, 
and long before it was known that coal could be used to 
smelt iron the people made charcoal for the purpose from 
the trees of this famous forest. At that time every house 
was a little factory, having its own blacksmith shop, in which 
the whole family worked, the women and children pound- 
ing out nails, chains, and other small articles. Later coal 
was brought from the mines near by, and Birmingham 
became one of the chief iron-making centers of the world. 
The people were already skilled in handling tools, and 
they soon learned to make things by machinery. 

At present Birmingham produces millions of steel pens 
every year, and millions upon millions of screws and nails, 
and so many pins and needles that if you should sit down 
and try to count the number made in one month, you could 
hardly finish the job in your lifetime. The city has also 
foundries and factories for heavy machinery, steam engines, 



62 ENGLAND. 

and cannon ; it makes vast numbers of bicycles and 
sewing machines, and also buttons and jewelry and other 
articles of every description from iron, brass, steel, copper, 
and tin, as well as from silver and gold. It makes so 
many toys that it has been called the toy shop of Europe, 
and we enjoy ourselves going through the establishments 
where toy engines, little iron wagons, and countless other 
things to amuse children are made in large quantities. 

From Birmingham we take a train for Manchester, situ- 
ated in the Lancashire coal fields, to see the cotton 
mills which are fed by the plantations of our southern 
States. England is our best customer for cotton, and we 
sell her millions of bales every year. Her soil is such 
that she cannot raise cotton ; but, nevertheless, making 
cotton thread and weaving cotton cloth are by far the 
most important of all her industries, and she has twenty- 
five hundred factories, in which more than a half million 
people are employed, including one hundred thousand 
children. 

We pass through many cotton-spinning towns on our 
way to Manchester, for the Lancashire coal fields are 
densely populated. The country is dotted with smoke- 
stacks, and the water is so discolored by the dyes used for 
calicoes and other cloths that the streams and canals seem 
to flow ink. We visit Preston, where in 1768 Arkwright 
set up his first mill to weave cotton by machinery, and at 
Blackburn, in a little valley nine miles away, see where 
Hargraves established his " spinning jenny " at about the 
same time. Both towns are still important weaving places, 
Preston being noted for its yarns and fine cotton cloths. 

We spend some days in Manchester going through its 
many warehouses and its numerous factories. . It is the 
fourth city of Great Britain in size, and its commerce has 



MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 63 

been much increased by the canal which its people have 
dug out to the sea. 

For a long time all the cotton used here was landed at 
Liverpool, and thence shipped by rail to the factories. By 
the Manchester Canal large steamers can come from the 
ocean right into the city, and bring the cotton from our 
country almost to the doors of the mills. 




Manchester Canal. 

This canal is one of the wonders of Great Britain. It 
is more than thirty-five miles long, one hundred and twenty 
feet wide, and twenty-six feet deep. It cost a vast sum, 
but Manchester people believe it will make their city grow 
as Glasgow did after the deepening of the Clyde. A part 
of this canal was made by deepening the little river Irwell, 
which flows through Manchester on its way to the sea. 

We take a trip on the canal, passing cotton mills all 
the way down. Now we pass ships from New Orleans, 



6 4 



ENGLAND. 



Savannah, and Galveston, coming up or unloading cotton 
bales at the mills on the banks, and now pass cotton ships 
from Egypt and India. There are other vessels loaded 
with manufactured goods going down stream, and we have 




The Harbor, Liverpool. 

company all the way until we enter the mouth of the Mersey 
mer'zi) in the crowded harbor of Liverpool, and anchor 
there in one of the chief commercial ports of the world. 

Liverpool is about as big as Boston ; it is next to Lon- 
don the chief port of Great Britain, and is one of the busi- 



MANUFACTURING ENGLAND. 



65 



est places in Europe. We land at the magnificent stone 
docks which wall the banks of the Mersey for miles, look- 
ing longingly at the great steamers from New York, which 
are unloading meat, wheat, and other American products, 
and taking on English manufactured goods to carry back 
home. See that ocean greyhound which is about starting 
out ! We might go on board and within less than a week 
be back in dear old America ! We hesitate only a moment, 
however, and then turn our eyes toward the great steamers 
from Germany, France, Scandinavia, and the Mediter- 
ranean ports, remembering the many strange countries of 
Europe which we have yet to see. 

We stroll about the docks. Many of them surround 
great pools into which the ships are admitted through 
water gates, for it is often difficult to unload in the harbor 
on account of the great rise and fall of the tide in the 
Mersey. Other ships use floating landing stages for this 
reason, the floats rising and falling as the tide comes in 
and goes out. 

We soon leave the wharves for a trip through the city. 
We visit the custom house, the town hall, and the stock 
exchange, and then take 
a train for Stratford-on- 
Avon, for all of our 
party are eager to spend 
a day in visiting the 
birthplace of Shake- 
speare, the great poet 
and dramatist. We stay 
over night here at the old 
Red Horse Inn where 
Washington Irving lived when he was in Stratford, and 
next morning wander about the town, visiting the house 




jS: 



— the house in which Shakespeare 
was born." 



66 



ENGLAND. 



in which Shakespeare was born, the church where he was 

buried, and the cottage in which he courted Ann Hatha- 
way who became his 
wife. In the after- 
noon we drive to the 
old castle of Kenil- 
worth, only a few 
miles away. Thence 
we go into Coventry, 
a town famous for 
Keniiworth. its manufactures of 

watches, bicycles, and ribbons, and from there by fast 

express to London. 

<x>S*K<*> 

VIII. LONDON — THE COMMERCIAL CENTER 
OF THE WORLD. 




WE start out this morning to see something of Lon- 
don. It is the biggest city of the whole world, 
bigger than any two capitals of continental Europe, or both 
New York and Chicago combined. It has more people 
than New England, so many that it forms a little world 
of its own. The most of its citizens are English, but 
there are thousands of others who have come here to 
live and do business. It is said London has more Scotch- 
men than Edinburgh, more Irishmen than Dublin, and 
more Jews than the Holy Land. It has a vast number 
of French, Germans, and Italians, and many thousand 
Americans. It grows so fast that a new house goes up 
every hour, a baby is born every six minutes, and enough 
people to make a large city are added to its population 
every year. 



LONDON. 67 

London has been described as an enormous beehive of 
humanity. It is a great sea of bricks and mortar, and we 
are appalled in our attempts to comprehend its extent. 
We might climb to the top of the monument in the center 
of the chief business section and look over the great city, 
but we could not see it all. It has thousands of factories, 
which cause dense clouds of smoke to hang over it. The 
Thames, which flows through it, sometimes sends up fogs, 
which at certain seasons are so thick that the people can 
hardly see their way through the streets. Some of the 
fogs have a yellowish tint, and in them you seem to be 
looking through spectacles of yellow smoked glass. 

How long do you think it would take to explore the city 
on foot ? A week ? More than that. A month ? More 
than that. Perhaps a year ? More than that. If we 
should walk day and night, not stopping a minute, we could 
not go through all its streets in a year. Indeed, the streets 
are so long that if they were placed end to end, beginning 
at the Thames, they would reach across Europe, making a 
paved walk walled with houses through France, Germany, 
and Russia, over the Ural Mountains and the Highlands 
of Thibet, and clear across China to the Pacific Ocean. 

We might learn something about London by a trip down 
the Thames which flows through it on its way to the sea. 
The city is sixty miles inland on this wide, deep, and 
smooth-flowing river, so situated that it is the natural out- 
let for the rich Thames valley, and so connected with 
other parts of England by railways and canals that it 
forms the best port for the shipment of all sorts of English 
manufactures to Europe and the other continents, and the 
place from which goods from abroad can most easily be 
sent out to all parts of England. 

London is the greatest commercial port of the world, 



68 ENGLAND. 

and the Thames has always thousands of ships anchored 
within it. The river for miles is lined with wharves, and 
there are so many vessels in some places that you can 
hardly make out the houses behind them. Standing upon 
London Bridge, we see a forest of masts extending on 
and on until our eyes are lost among them in the dis- 
tance, and in the inclosed docks near by, the rigging of 
the vessels rises high among the chimneys of the great 
warehouses surrounding them. 

We shall get an idea of the immensity of London by a 
visit to the grain and provision docks, where Dame Com- 
merce is kept busy unloading food for its gigantic stomach. 
They are taking off live cattle and sheep by the thousands, 
and discharging shiploads of beef which have come across 
the ocean from the United States in cold storage chambers. 
London eats so much beef every year that the cattle required 
to supply it, if driven along close together in single file, 
would make a drove as long as the distance from New 
York to a hundred miles beyond Omaha. The city eats 
so much mutton that vast factories have grown up in Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand, and Argentina to freeze mutton for 
its markets. The mutton is frozen hard before it is put 
into the cold chambers of the ships, and when it reaches 
here is thawed out and sold. 

In the fish markets there are hundreds of vessels, for 
London eats more than oue million pounds of fish every 
day; and there are many great oyster farms all along the 
Thames which supply the city with oysters. The peo- 
ple of Denmark would suffer if it were not for the money 
they get from the butter which spreads London's bread, 
and northern France receives much of its income by 
supplying London with poultry and eggs. Canada and 
the United States send it vast quantities of cheese, and 



LONDON. 



69 



indeed almost every part of the world finds something to 
do towards supplying food for it. 

We are fortunate in having good weather during our 
travels in London. To-day the Thames is glistening like 
diamonds under the rays of the sun, and the dingy build- 
ings about us look less somber than they did last night in 
the fog. We leave 
our hotel at Trafal- 
gar Square, near the 
great granite col- 
umn with the bronze 
statue of Admiral 
Nelson on top, and 
walk down to the 
Strand at Charing 
Cross, where we get 
an omnibus for Lon- 
don Bridge. This 
will take us through 
the very center of 
business London. 

How narrow the 
streets are and how 
crowded ! They are 
so thronged from 
morning till night, that there is no room for car lines, and 
the people ride chiefly in cabs, motor cars, and omnibuses. 
We take an omnibus and sit on the knifeboard in front 
on each side of the driver, who points out the sights as we 
go. He is a jolly, rosy-cheeked, man in a tall hat and 
rough clothes, who uses his h's in a way that seems strange 
to us. He calls " he " "e," and ''horses" " osses," and 
speaks so queerly that we hardly understand half he says. 

CARP. EUROPE — 5 




We climb up. 



70 



ENGLAND. 



How interesting it is ! We are high up above the 
crowds that are hurrying in all directions ; while a tangle 
of hansoms, four-wheeled carriages, drays, and omnibuses 
reaches on and on, filling the streets as far as we can 
see. The buildings on each side of us are dingy and 
old. There are few tall structures like our so-called " sky 
scrapers" of New York, and were it not for the dense 
throng of people, we could not believe we are in the 

world's chief busi- 
ness center. 

We are traveling 
through a part of old 
London where many 
of the houses were 
built generations ago, 
and where the streets 
are narrow and 
crooked. Now we 
are passing through 
Fleet Street by the 
great publishing 
houses. See the boys 
and girls coming out 
with bundles of 
newspapers under their arms. The girls are bareheaded, 
and they cry out the papers almost as loudly as the boys. 
It is here that the chief London dailies are printed. 

Now we are going past Saint Paul's Cathedral ! What an 
enormous building it is. It is one of the grandest churches 
of the world. It is twelve o'clock, and its great bell is 
striking the hour. That bell is tolled only at the death of 
one of the royal family of England, but it strikes the hours, 
and its rich mellow tones can be heard far out of the city. 




Saint Paul's Cathedral. 



LONDON. 71 

Leaving Saint Paul's, we pass through Cheapside and 
Poultry to Lombard Street, where we get down and walk 
about through the alleys lined with banks and business 
houses. We are now in the money center of London. We 
walk through Cornhill, Lombard, and Threadneedle Streets, 
seeing banking signs everywhere. The buildings are usually 
of five or six stories. They are substantial, but not so large 
as the great office buildings of New York and Chicago. 
We see many well-dressed men about the stock exchange, 
and realize that this is the chief money market of the 
whole world. There are men here interested in under- 
takings all over the globe. Railroads in South America, 
diamond mines in Africa, silk factories in China, sugar 
plantations in Cuba, vast sheep farms in Australia, and 
gold, silver, and copper mines everywhere, are worked 
with capital supplied from this part of London. These 
buildings are filled with offices. They are occupied only 
by day ; at night they will be deserted by all but the care- 
takers, for the rich men and their clerks will then be in 
their homes in other parts of the city. 

But what is that vast structure of somber gray stone ? 
It covers eight acres, and is the biggest building of this 
part of London. It looks like a prison. There is a guard 
at the door in a long scarlet gown and a velvet cocked 
hat. He has a staff in his hand, and at first we wonder if 
he is not some great money king and whether the staff is 
his scepter. That is the Bank of England, one of the 
most famous banks of the world. It has charge of the 
government funds, and also does so much private business 
that it often has as much as a half billion dollars worth of 
gold and other valuable things in its vaults. We have 
a permit from a banker, which we show to the scarlet- 
gowned guard, and he waves us to enter. 



72 



ENGLAND. 




"That is the Bank of England." 

We first come into a large square room surrounded by 
counters, behind which clerks are giving out gold. They 
are not counting the coins as we do, but are weighing 
them on scales like those used by our grocers. See that 
man there scooping up gold just as a grocer scoops up sugar. 
He knows exactly how many coins go to the ounce or the 
pound, and in giving out large sums can count more easily 
by weight than by numbers. For this reason the coins 
used by the bank must be perfect, and none that are much 
worn or chipped will be taken. Every coin which the 
bank receives is weighed separately to see that it has just 
the right amount of gold in it ; but this is done by machines 
which work . very rapidly, automatically throwing out the 
light coins. There are ten such machines in the bank, each 
of which can weigh six thousand pieces of gold a day. 

Quitting the bank, we visit the Royal Exchange near 
by, and then cross over to the Mansion House where the 



LONDON. 



73 



Lord Mayor lives. We next visit the Tower of London, 
which for years was the prison and place of execution for 
the celebrated criminals and traitors of England. It is a 
gloomy building on the banks of the Thames, some of it 
almost one thousand years old. A quaintly attired warder 
acts as our guide, taking us from room to room, upstairs 



m r 



"We next visit the Tower of London." 

and down, and making us shudder as he tells the horrible 
stories of the suffering and death which have occurred 
within it. He shows us Queen Elizabeth's armory, where 
are all sorts of weapons and instruments of torture, and 
lets us handle an ax which has cut off the heads of some 
of England's great nobles. 

In another room we see the crown jewels of England. 
They are kept in glass cases inside iron cages and carefully 
guarded. That crown there which fairly blazes with 
precious stones was once Queen Victoria's. It has two 
thousand, seven hundred and eighty-three diamonds in it, 
and the large ruby in front was worn by Henry V on his 



74 



ENGLAND. 



helmet in one of his battles with the French, hundreds of 
years ago. The great stone near it is the celebrated Koh-i- 
noor, one of the largest diamonds known. It once belonged 
to an Indian rajah, and came into the possession of the 
English when they conquered him. 

From the Tower we visit the Tower Bridge over the 
Thames, and thence walk on to London Bridge, the busi- 
est of all the twenty bridges which cross the Thames in 
the city. The bridge is of granite, and the bronze lamp 
posts upon it were cast from cannon which the English 




London Bridge. 

had captured in battle. We stand on the bridge watch- 
ing the throng of people and vehicles which is always 
moving over this way and that. The Thames is filled 
with shipping. There are steamers carrying passengers 
up and down stream, and we are told by the policemen 
that we, if we wish, can ride back on one of them to 
Charing Cross for a penny. We decide, however, to return 
by the underground railroad. 



LONDON. 



75 




We 



return by the underground railroad. 



The streets in the heart of London are so thronged that 
people in a hurry travel under ground. Great tunnels 
have been dug out under the houses and streets, below the 
gas pipes and sewers. There are railroads in the tunnels, 
and fast express trains fly along through them, stopping at 
the openings which have been made here and there with 
stairs to the streets. A trip costs but four cents, and the 
cars are so convenient that the trains annually carry many 
million passengers. The tunnels are lighted by electricity. 
They are walled with brick, and are so well ventilated that 
we find riding in them more pleasant than jolting along on 
the omnibus. 



7 6 



ENGLAND. 



IX. THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 
ENGLAND IS GOVERNED. 



HOW 



PUT on your best clothes this morning. We are to go 
through the fashionable parts of London. We shall 
drive in the chief shopping sections, take a turn in Hyde 
Park, and later visit Parliament, and perhaps meet the chief 
officials of the great British Empire. 
We go in couples, each couple taking 
a hansom, a queer two-wheeled cab 
entirely open in front. The driver 
has a seat fastened to the back of the 
roof, and directs his horses with lines 
which are high over our heads. 
' We leave Trafalgar Square for a 
ride through Regent Street, Ox- 
ford, and Piccadilly. The build- 
ings are cleaner and better than 
farther down in the city, and 
the stores are filled with fine 
goods of every description. We 
stop here and there to buy pres- 
ents or things we need on our 
tour ; and then go on into Hyde 
Park, by the great statue of 
Wellington cast from twelve French cannon, some of which 
were captured from Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. 

How beautiful the park is ! The drives are through 
groves of magnificent trees and thick velvety lawns of the 
greenest green. We go to the Serpentine, a long winding 
lake where, before eight o'clock in the morning and after 
eight in the evening, crowds of boys and men may be seen 




Nelson Monument, Trafal- 
gar Square. 



HOW ENGLAND IS GOVERNED. 77 

swimming and plunging about in the water. The time for 
bathing is limited by the raising and lowering of a flag, the 
park authorities setting aside an hour twice a day for the 
sport. 

Not far from the Serpentine is Rotten Row, where fash- 
ionable London rides and drives every afternoon. The 
usual riding hour is from twelve till two o'clock, when 



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Rotten Row. 

hundreds of finely dressed ladies and gentlemen and boys 
and girls may be seen on their spirited steeds, walking, 
trotting, or galloping along. 

After looking at the magnificent houses near Hyde 
Park, we are driven on to the palaces of St. James and 
Buckingham, two of the residences of the king of England, 
where he sometimes holds his levees or receptions. The 
palaces are enormous structures more like our great gov- 
ernment department buildings at Washington than ordi- 
nary residences. They face St. James Park, and each 
palace has a beautiful garden about it. 

At the times of royal receptions richly dressed ladies, 
gentlemen in uniforms trimmed with gold lace, and serv- 



yS ENGLAND. 

ants in gorgeous liveries wearing knee breeches, silk 
stockings, and powdered hair, may be seen going into the 
palaces. Then the mounted band of the Life Guards 
plays outside, and gay carriages, driven by coachmen wear- 
ing curled wigs and three-cornered hats, dash through the 
streets, the policemen keeping the crowds back. from the 
roadway. 

Had we the proper introductions, we might enter and be 
presented to the ruler of England. We should probably 
find him only a man after all ; and if he should tell us 
just what his powers are, we should learn that, although he 
is a king, he has little more authority over his people than 
the President of the United States has over us. 

The government of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland is a limited monarchy ; that is, its king 
can rule only as the constitution and laws prescribe. The 
laws are fixed by Parliament, a body of men representing 
the people, much like our Congress. Parliament directs 
what the king shall do ; it directs just what taxes shall 
be collected, how the money shall be spent, and it makes 
all the laws for the people. For this reason the English 
say they have a country as free as our own, although ours 
is a republic. 

But let us visit the Houses of Parliament. They are in 
Westminster Palace, a magnificent building covering more 
than twice as much ground as the Capitol at Washington, 
situated on the north bank of the Thames. We call up 
to our cabman through the little hole in the roof to go 
through St. James's Park, and down Whitehall Street to 
the river. We dismount in front of the palace, but are 
stopped at the gates by one of the policemen on guard, 
until we show him our pass from the American Minister. 
We find other policemen in the halls, who wear uniforms 



HOW ENGLAND IS GOVERNED. 



79 



and tall helmets, and look very imposing. The door- 
keepers also wear uniforms, and each of the messengers 
has a brass medal as big around as a teacup, with a lion 
and unicorn upon it, on his breast. 




Westminster Palace. 



We are taken through room after room. There are 
more than a thousand in the palace. We visit the library 
and then go on into the House of Commons, and sit down 
in the galleries surrounding the great rectangular pit 
where the House meets. The walls of the pit are of 
richly carved English oak, darkened by age, and the roof 
is composed of panels of stained glass through which the 
light comes. 

Cast your eyes into the pit. There, on those long, cush- 
ioned benches, sit the men who, elected by the people, really 
rule England. Nearly all are dressed in black clothes, and 
each has a tall silk hat on his head, or on his knees, or on 
the seat beside him. There are no desks, and many of 



8o 



ENGLAND. 



the members are writing on papers which they rest on 
their hats. 

Notice that man in the long black gown sitting in the 
pulpit at the end of the chamber. How white his hair is 
and how curly ; it is done up in a queue at the back, and 
it surrounds his rosy face and falls down on his breast. 
Still, the man's face is unwrinkled, as are those of the 
other white-haired men who are writing at that table 



«m 






m 




14 — the great rectangular pit where the House meets." 

below him. They seem to be young men notwithstanding 
their hair. You are right. They are young. They are 
the speaker and clerks of the House of Commons, and 
custom requires they wear black gowns and gray wigs, as 
was done by judges and some other officials of our coun- 
try in early days. 

There a member rises to speak. He uses a conversa- 
tional tone and his fellows are quietly listening. Now he 
is growing excited. His words stir up the whole House. 



HOW ENGLAND IS GOVERNED. 8 1 

There are cries of Hear ! Hear ! and No ! No ! from 
all parts. The Speaker calls Order ! Three other mem- 
bers have jumped to their feet. They cry out; their objec- 
tions, and for a time there is quite a hubbub in the great 
pit below us. Ordinarily the House of Commons is more 
quiet than our House of Representatives, but when im- 
portant questions come up, the members often lose their 
dignified ways and shout at, each other. 

But let us go into the House of Peers, where the chief 
nobles of the United Kingdom have seats. The English 
people are divided up into peers and commoners, largely 
according to birth. There are about six hundred peers and 
something like thirty-five million commoners. The peers 
are of the five orders of nobility: dukes, marquises, earls,, 
viscounts, and barons. There are also other orders whose 
members have only the titles of Honorable and Sir. In 
England the eldest son usually succeeds to the rank of 
his father, while the other children are only commoners, 
although they sometimes by courtesy have minor titles. 

We find the House of Lords much like the House of 
Commons, save that it is more quiet and prosy. There are 
about six hundred members. Some became members by 
birth, some were appointed by the king, others were elected 
for life or for shorter periods, and some are bishops of the 
Church of England. 

Leaving Westminster Palace, we visit Westminster Abbey 
near by, to see the statues and memorials of the English 
monarchs, military and naval heroes, scientists, and liter- 
ary men. We admire the monuments of the kings, but 
are more interested in those erected to Sir Isaac Newton, 
the great philosopher, to James Watt, the father of the 
steam engine, and to such writers as Addison, Goldsmith, 
Dickens, and Thackeray. We stay some time in the " Poets' 



82 



ENGLAND. 



Corner," before the tombs or monuments of Milton, Chaucer, 
Shakespeare, and other great poets, and also before the 
monument of Longfellow, who is as much loved in Eng- 
land as in our own country. 

On our way back to the hotel we drive by the chief 
public buildings, visiting several of them to learn more 
about the government. We find that the king has his 




Westminster Abbey. 

Cabinet just as our President has, but while our President 
need not act on the advice of his Cabinet, the king must 
act on the advice of his Cabinet if it is approved by the 
House of Commons. Each of the king's ministers has a 
great department, with thousands of clerks under him. 
We visit the Treasury, which has to do with the finances 
of the empire, and then enter the great buildings which 
contain the Home, Foreign, Colonial, and Indian Offices, 
where we get some idea of the enormous size and impor- 
tance of the British Empire. 



HOW ENGLAND IS GOVERNED. 83 

The United Kingdom is but a small part of the territory 
governed by the British people. They have colonies on 
every continent, and islands in almost every sea. The 
colonies and the United Kingdom make up the British 
Empire, which contains, all told, about eighty times as 
much land as Great Britain and Ireland, and altogether 
almost one fifth of the land surface of the globe, inhabited 
by about one fourth of all the people upon it. It is the 
greatest empire of the whole world, and of all the world's 
peoples the English own the most land. 

We might travel around the world, landing only at 
English ports. We could cross the Atlantic to Montreal, 
and thence go by railroad to Vancouver where there are 
steamers which would land us in Hong Kong, an English 
island off the coast of South China. From there we could 
steam on to Singapore, another English possession, and 
thence north by way of Rangoon in Burmah to Calcutta, 
the capital of British India. From Calcutta there is a rail- 
road to Bombay, where other English ships would take us 
over the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal, stopping at Aden, 
a British port in Arabia. Egypt, which is under British 
protection, would be on our left as we went through the 
canal, and in crossing the Mediterranean we should call at 
Malta, and go by the English rock of Gibraltar out into 
the Atlantic, and thence northward to Liverpool. This 
tour would leave out the vast possessions of the British 
in Africa and Australasia, as well as other important colo- 
nies, including islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian 
oceans. 

These vast territories are all governed more or less from 
the Colonial and Indian Offices in London, although some 
of them, such as New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, have 
parliaments of their own. Each colonial country has a 



84 ENGLAND. 

great trade with Great Britain, and does much toward 
making the English rank with ourselves as the greatest of 
the commercial and manufacturing nations. 

We visit the Departments of War and Navy. A large 
army is needed to keep so many people in order, and to 
defend their many possessions. The English must have 
war ships to guard their enormous commerce, and their 
gunboats are to be seen in all parts of the world. 

We are more and more impressed with the greatness of 
the British Empire as we go from building to building, 
and from office to office. In the Postal Department we 
learn something of the intelligence of the English from the 
vast amount of mail they send and receive. We see that 
they must be thrifty from their savings banks, which are 
connected with every post office, and where one can 
deposit as little as twenty-five cents at a time. Many 
school children put their money into such banks, and nearly 
all the depositors are poor people; but their deposits amount 
to many hundred million dollars. 

We ask about the telegraph and telephone systems, which 
are managed by the government in connection with the 
post offices, and are told that there are telegraph lines and 
telephones to all parts of the kingdom, and also cables run- 
ning under the Channel to the Continent, and to most of 
the colonies. We ask the cable clerk to send a message 
across the Atlantic for us. He gives us a blank, and we 
each write a dispatch. A few minutes later our words 
are flying through the wires, up hill and down, on their 
journey of two thousand and more miles over the bed of 
the ocean to Nova Scotia, and thence through the land 
wires to our homes. They will arrive there before we can 
reach our hotel, and our parents will know we are safe, 
happy, and well. 



RURAL FRANCE. 



85 



X. RURAL FRANCE. 




w 



E are in France this morn- 
ing. We landed some days 
ago, and are now leisurely trav- 
eling from city to city and 
village to village through one 
of the most interesting coun- 
tries of Europe. How pleas- 
ant it is to be again upon 
land ! We shall never for- 
get our trip across the 
Channel. It took us two 
hours on the railroad from 
London to Dover, where the 
English Channel is narrow- 
est and where we got an 
express boat which carried us 
across to Calais in an hour. 
But such an hour! We never 
thought so much misery could be 
crowded into sixty short minutes. We were rolled and 
pitched about by the waves even more than on our voyage 
across the Atlantic. We could not walk upon 'deck, and 
were seasick all the way over. 

We spent but a few hours in Calais (see map, p. 103), 
going first to the customhouse to open our trunks, that the 
officials might see we had no goods for sale. We visited 
the shipyards, watched the French women making lace, 
and looked at the fortifications built to defend the port in 
the event of a war between England and France. For a 
similar reason the English have fortifications at Dover. 

CARP. EUROPE — 6 



86 FRANCE. 

We took a train at the station, not far from the boat, 
and since then have been traveling by rail from one 
place to another. How different it is from anything we 
have yet seen ! The signs on the stations are strange. 
They are printed in French, and we have to translate the 
advertisements before we know what they mean. Our 
fellow passengers speak a strange language, gesturing 









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"We spent but a few hours in Calais." 

much as they talk. We thought we knew something of 
French, but these people speak so fast we cannot make 
out the words. The conductor comes to the door, and 
touching his cap, calls out something we can hardly under- 
stand, for he runs his words all together ; but the French 
passengers are showing their tickets, and we do the same. 
Listen to the crowd at the stations ! They are all jabber- 
ing in French, and what really seems strangest, is that the 



RURAL FRANCE. 



87 



little children are speaking this language as easily as we 
do our own. 

How polite every one is, and how jolly ! Even the boys 
take off their hats when we ask them a question. Men 
shake hands when they meet, and again when they part, 
and boys often kiss the hands of their relatives when they 
greet them at the cars. Over there are two men embrac- 
ing each other. They kiss on the cheeks, each pressing 
one kiss on each cheek of his fellow. Such salutations 
are common in France. 

The French are fond of society. We see women chatting 
and laughing as they sit with their knitting outside their 




" — women chatting and laughing." 

houses. There are family parties about the tables in the 
parks and in the streets in front of the cafes, playing 
dominoes or other games, while they drink wine, chocolate, 
coffee, or lemonade. They seem to enjoy themselves very 



88 FRANCE. 

much. Many are reading the papers, for the French are 
intelligent and have all sorts of schools, as we shall see 
farther on. 

But there, the bell rings ! The train is leaving the 
station, and that ring is the notice to start. We are 
rapidly moving over the country. How comfortable it is ! 
France has a good railroad system connecting its cities 
and towns with one another and with all parts of Europe. 

See the woman there at the road crossing ! She has a 
little red flag in her hand, which she waves at the engineer 
as he passes. She blows a horn to warn people that the 
cars are coming, and at the same time puts down the bars 
to keep them from crossing the track. 

How fine the farms are, but how small. France is 
largely composed of small farms. It is divided up into 
garden patches, and the most of. it belongs to the common 
people. In the United Kingdom, which we have just left, 
the most of the lands were owned by twenty thousand men, 
composed chiefly of the rich and the nobility. France is 
only a little less than twice as large as Great Britain and 
Ireland, but it has millions of landed proprietors. Nearly 
every farmer has his own bit of land, and even those who 
work for others own several acres apiece, which they tend 
between times. This is a good thing for France, for every 
owner feels that a part of the country belongs to him, and 
he is interested in its welfare. The people are fond of 
their country, and do not emigrate like the English, Irish, 
and Germans. They think no other place equal to France, 
and hence stay at home; many foreigners come into 
France every year, but few Frenchmen go out. The peo- 
ple farm their lands well and are thrifty. 

The French are noted for their thrift. Nearly every 
one of them has money in the bank or in a stocking hidden 



RURAL FRANCE. 



8 9 



away somewhere at home, and they are often said to be 
the richest people of the world. They have learned how 
to use food materials so economically that it is said they 
could take what we waste, and by their knowledge of 
cooking, live upon it. The common people we see dress 
plainly and look healthy and happy. 




"The road is as hard as stone." 

Now we are traveling through one of the wheat regions. 
There are many such in the northern and central parts of 
the country. Besides wheat, the French produce quantities 
of oats, rye, barley, and corn, as well as sugar beets, pota- 
toes, and other root crops. They have orchards of apples, 
peaches, and pears in the north, and in the south groves 
of lemon, orange, olive, and mulberry trees. There are 
many provinces in which we can go for miles and not be 
out of sight of the vineyards, for France is the chief wine- 
producing country of Europe. 



90 



FRANCE. 



But let us leave the train and visit some, of the farms. 
The road is as hard as stone and as smooth as a floor. We 
ride along under the shade of the poplars and other trees 
that line the roadsides. It is early morning, but the people 




In the Fields. 

are already at work. The women are laboring along with 
the men in the fields. Some of them are bareheaded, some 
have bright handkerchiefs about their heads, and some 
wear sunbonnets. They do all sorts of light work. There 
is one weeding among those sugar beets, and here is 
another cutting the thistles out of this field of green wheat. 
On the other side of the road a man is plowing; he 
wears a cap and a suit of blue cotton, with a long shirt or 
blouse buttoned down in front outside his trousers ; he has 



RURAL FRANCE. 9 1 

on wooden clogs or sabots. . In that field farther on three 
little boys are planting something. They are bareheaded, 
but they laugh as they work, and say : " Bon jour " (boN 
zhoor) or "good day," to us as we pass. 

But where are the farmhouses and barns? There are 
none in the fields. The farm people of France live in 
villages, and go out from them to their work. There is a 
village now about three miles away. Let us go to it. 
How different it is from our small country towns ! The 
houses and barns are all mixed together. They are of one 
and two stories, built of stone or of mud mixed with straw, 
and roofed with red tiles or straw thatch. The walls are 
whitewashed, except near the ground, where there is a 
black coating of tar to keep out the damp. Each house 
has a stable and outsheds about it, and the stable is often 
a part of the house, the cow stalls being next to the bed- 
room or kitchen. Nearly every house has a rabbit yard 
connected with it ; rabbits are as common here as chickens 
are in our villages. 

One of the farmers invites us to enter his home. He 
takes us into the kitchen, which is the chief room of the 
house. It has a brick floor ; there is a great fireplace at 
the end and a bed in one corner. Hams and sides of 
bacon hang from the ceiling, and there are some prints on 
the walls. Our farmer wears a cap, a blue blouse, blue 
trousers, and wooden shoes. His wife has on dark clothes 
and a white cap. She has a half-finished garment in her 
hand, and sews as she talks. 

See that hand loom over there ! Our hostess weaves 
cloth in the winter when she cannot work in the fields. 
Many of the women make beautiful laces and embroideries. 

Leaving the house, we stroll through the village, visiting 
its little church, and then drive on to a large country town 



92 



FRANCE. 



not far away. Let us stop before we go in, and watch the 
women washing at that stream outside the town. Each 
woman has a wooden box or tray at the edge of the water, 
in which she kneels, and, leaning over, dips in the clothes 
and rubs them clean upon the flat stones. There is a girl 
who is pounding the dirt out with a paddle. She has laid 
the blue cotton shirt she is washing upon a rock in the 







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water, and is striking it again and again. Now she is dip- 
ping the garment into the stream, and now she has doubled 
it up to pound it again. Others have finished their wash- 
ing, and are hanging the clothes on the fence at the back 
or spreading them out on the grass to dry. This sort of 
washing is done all over France, although in some of the 
cities there are public laundries where the women may 
wash free of charge or for a few cents a day. 



RURAL FRANCE. 93 

In the town we find all sorts of work going on in the 
streets. The French are fond of open air life. We see 
women and girls knitting and sewing on their house steps, 
others near by are cleaning vegetables for dinner, and 
farther on a girl is combing her hair, right out on the 
street. 

It is the same with the men and the children. Tailors 
and shoemakers bring their work out to the sidewalks, 
school children bring their books home and study out- 
doors, and the little ones play all sorts of games in the 
streets. 

See that girl on that doorstep with her doll in her arms. 
What a pretty little French mother, and what a very odd 
doll ! The doll's legs are wrapped round and round with 
a white cloth in a tight bundle. That is the way the live 
French babies are dressed, and the little girl could not 
imagine her baby real if it were in one of the long gowns 
our babies wear. 

We visit the public museum and the library, and then go 
into the schools. Every town in France has these institu- 
tions, for the French are among the most advanced of all 
nations in their learning and culture. They have many 
colleges and large universities, and are noted for their 
scientific and literary ability. 

We spend some time at the schoolhouses, smiling a little 
at the boys, who are dressed too much like girls to suit 
young Americans. Many quite large boys wear black 
dresses which fall below the knees of their trousers. 
Some of the boys have on stockings so short that they 
do not meet the ends of their knickerbockers, and a strip 
of red, bare skin eight inches wide shows. It makes us 
think of the soldiers we saw wearing kilts in the Highlands 
of Scotland. 



94 



FRANCE. 



The teacher tells us the school hours are from eight 
o'clock in the morning to four in the afternoon, with two 
hours for dinner. He shows us the school savings bank, 
in which the children can make deposits equal to one cent 
or more at a time, and says that the parents sometimes 
teach their children habits of saving by giving them money 
to put in the school bank, so that they may have a capital 
with which to start life when they leave school. These 
school banks are connected with the postal savings banks, 

and are so popular that 
hundreds of thousands 
of accounts have thus 
been opened by children. 
Our town is on the 
edge of a forest, and we 
take a long drive through 
the woods. How clean 
and well kept everything 
is! There is hardly a 
twig on the ground, not 
a rotten log or a stump 
to be seen. Even the 
bark of small trees is 
saved, and that of some 
kinds is stripped off and 
used to tie the sheaves 
of wheat and oats. There 
is a woman preparing 
such bark and putting it up in bundles for sale. Where 
the trees have been cut they have been chopped off close 
to the ground, and every chip saved. Fuel is expensive in 
France, and the people do not waste it as we do. The 
wood is made up for sale in little bundles not much bigger 




"There is a woman preparing such 
bark." 



COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING FRANCE. 95 

than a bundle of kindling wood, and in the cities it is often 
sold by weight. 

The French are always planting trees ; they have a say- 
ing that every tree earns its own living. Every forest has 
its keeper, who can tell when a tree reaches the right age 
for firewood ; and in the government forests it is forbidden 
by law to destroy the trees. The result is that, although 
France is a very old country, about one sixth of it is still 
wooded. We meet one of the forest guards now and 
then during our drive, and when we propose to break off 
a stick for a cane our coachman warns us that if we do so 
we may be arrested. 

XI. COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING 
FRANCE. 

LET us look at France on the map to learn, if we can, 
why it has been the home of one of the greatest of 
the European nations. The country consists of a great 
block of rolling plains so guarded by mountains and seas 
that its inhabitants can easily defend it. There are the 
English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean on the north and 
the west, the Mediterranean and the mountain wall of the 
Pyrenees on the south, and the Alps, the Jura, and the 
Vosges on the east, so arranged that only a short chain of 
fortresses is needed to ward off a sudden attack. 

Is it not natural that a great nation should grow up 
inside such walls of mountains and water? Yes; and 
when the country within has good seaports, and also navi- 
gable rivers connected by many canals, we see that it 
is naturally fitted for commerce and trade. It has also 
coal and other minerals, and thousands of streams flow 



9 6 



FRANCE. 



down from the mountains, giving water power to all sorts 
of factories. 

As we make our way from one great port to another, 
we shall see that all parts of France are connected by 
water, so that, notwithstanding the good railroad system, 
much of the freight still goes upon boats because it is 
cheaper. In some places the coal rate is one cent per ton 
per mile, while in others a ton of goods is carried three, 
miles for a cent. 

We could, if we chose, visit all parts of France by the 
Seine, the Loire, the Rhone, and Garonne, and the canals 
which connect them. The Burgundy Canal connects the 
Rhone, through its tributaries, with the Seine, and the Canal 
du Centre joins it to the Loire, while the Canal du Midi 
unites with the river Garonne and brings the waters of the 
Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean together, so that boats 
can go from one to the other and thus save the voyage of 
two thousand miles around the Spanish Peninsula. There is 

also a canal from 
the Seine to the 
Rhine, in which 
by locks the boats 
are lifted over a 
pass in the Vosges 
Mountains more 
than a thousand 
feet high. 

We visit the 

" — shipping from all parts of the world." chief seaports of 

France, and find them filled with shipping from all parts 
of the world. At Havre, the port of Paris at the mouth 
of the Seine, we see steamers which have crossed the 
Atlantic from New York, with loads of our cotton, tobacco, 




^iyL^HBL*r m&i 



COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING FRANCE. 



97 



and wheat to be sold to the French. There are ships from 
Brazil and other parts of South America, and also from 
the United Kingdom, Germany, and the many other coun- 
tries with which France has a great trade. 




"We spend some time in Bordeaux." 

We spend some time in Bordeaux, near the mouth of 
the Garonne. It is larger than Louisville and is a beau- 
tiful city. At its wharves are many vessels loading wines, 
and we learn that Bordeaux is the chief wine port of the 
world. The French raise grapes in nearly all parts of 
their country. They produce more wine than any other 
people, making enough annually to give a gallon to every 
man, woman, and child upon earth, and have plenty left 
for themselves. The French consume almost a billion 
gallons a year. Nearly every one has wine with his dinner, 
and we see even the little children drinking wine with 
their lunches as we ride through France on the cars. 

We take a run from Bordeaux out into the country to 
look at the vineyards. They are much the same as in 



9 8 



FRANCE. 



many other parts of France where fine wines are produced. 
There are vines everywhere ; not trained upon arbors or 
latticework, but tied to stakes about as high as your waist. 
Each vine has its own stake, the branches being cut almost 
down to the ground every year. Many of the hills are 
terraced, the rows of vines making green steps up the 
hillsides. See, there are women hoeing in the field over 
there ; on that hill to the right they are weeding the vines, 




A Vineyard. 



and tying them with strings to the stakes. Some of the 
women wear bonnets so deep we cannot see their faces 
except when they look up. There are children at work 
in the vineyards, as well as women and men. 

On our return to Bordeaux we visit the wine cellars. 
They are to be found in every part of the city. We walk 
through cave after cave, filled with great casks, and thou- 
sands of bottles carefully arranged upon shelves. Such 
cellars are common in all the wine centers. 



COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING FRANCE. 



99 



At Bordeaux we take the express train for Marseilles, the 
chief port of southern France, on the Mediterranean Sea. 
For miles there is nothing but vineyards on both sides of 
the track. Now we pass an orange orchard, and now see 
pale yellow lemons gleaming out through the green leaves. 
There are dark green olive trees and semitropical plants. 
There are men, women, and children at work everywhere. 



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In an Olive Grove. 



The women wear white caps and woolen dresses with 
short skirts. Even the children wear wooden shoes. 
There is a drove of little donkeys, each carrying two pan- 
niers of vegetables or fruits to the market. Farther on 
are some mules at work in a field. Everywhere there are 
roses and other beautiful flowers. There is so much to 
see that we are almost sorry when we reach the end of our 
journey. 



100 



FRANCE. 




Harbor, Marseilles. 



We spend some days at Marseilles. It is the outlet for 
the trade of the rich Rhone valley, and for all France to 
the Mediterranean, and the Far East. It is as big as Pitts- 
burg, and, owing to its excellent harbor and the busy and 
rich French people about it, is the chief port of the Medi- 
terranean Sea. 

We take the cars at Marseilles, and travel northward 
through the valley of the Rhone to Lyons, at the head of the 
navigation of the Rhone, where the turbulent Saone flows 
into it. We are now in what is, next to Paris, the chief man- 
ufacturing city of France, and in a city where more silks 
are woven than anywhere else in the world. The French 
make more of these goods than any other nation of Europe ; 
and in this city there are thousands of men, women, and 
children who do nothing else but make silk thread, and 
weave silk. : 



COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING FRANCE. 



IOI 




In Lyons. 



Lyons is as big as Buffalo, and it has become great 
chiefly from its silk manufactures. Let me tell you how 
the business started. Until the latter part of the Middle 
Ages, Europe got the most of its fine silks from Italy; but 
a few years after Columbus discovered America, Francis I, 
then king of France, sent out word to the silk weavers of 
Europe that if they would come to France they should 
have more rights than other workmen. He said that they 
should pay no taxes, their lodgings should be free, and 
they should have the right to wear swords, a privilege at 
that time seldom accorded to any but the nobles. The 
result was that many Italian weavers came to Lyons, which 
through its industrial fairs was already noted as a trading 
place. They first wove thick silk goods and brocaded 
velvets such as they had made at home, but afterward 
lighter silks were manufactured. 

CARP. EUROPE — 7 



102 FRANCE. 

The French soon learned silk weaving. They made all 
sorts of new designs, until at last it came about that the 
most beautiful of all cloths were made by them. In 
the meantime Paris became the center of European fash- 
ion and art, and merchants from all nations went there 
to get new fabrics and styles, until it was found that if a 
pattern or style originated in Paris it was pretty sure to 
sell well everywhere. This is the position which the 
French hold in the world to-day. They are supposed to 
know what is beautiful better than any other nation, and 
they are always inventing new styles. We visit schools in 
Lyons where designing is taught, and where any one who 
will pay can learn how to weave the most beautiful silks, 
satins, and velvets, if he will only apply himself. These 
schools have students from all parts of the world. 

But where does France get the silk thread to weave these 
fine goods ? Some of it, as we saw at Marseilles, is im- 
ported from Asia, but much is produced right here in the 
Rhone valley. In southern France there are many orchards 
of mulberry trees, whose leaves are used for feeding silk- 
worms. The people pick off the leaves and lay them upon 
boards, where the worms, having been carefully hatched 
from the eggs of the silk moth, are lying. After the worms 
begin to eat they must be kept supplied with food, and 
the people are often up all night tending them. At such 
times you can hear the worms chewing, the thousands 
of little jaws of a large colony making a peculiar noise. 
They grow very rapidly, and after a time stop eating and 
spin their cocoons, from which the silk threads are after- 
wards reeled off by machinery and by hand. 

Leaving Lyons, we visit other silk-weaving towns. 
There are many in France, for it is a great manufac- 
turing country, and there is scarcely a village that is not 




(i©3) 



104 FRANCE. 

noted for some industry or other. We spend some time 
in the thriving city of St. Etienne (saNt a-te-enn'). It is 
on the swift River Furens in the midst of coal fields, where 
the water power and cheap fuel have caused numerous 
factories to spring up. It might be called the Sheffield of 
France, for it makes all kinds of fine cutlery, manufac- 
turing five thousand knives every week. 

We are more interested, however, in the ribbons. St. 
Etienne weaves more ribbons than any other place in the 
world. It produces more than half of all the ribbons of 
Europe, and I think there are many girls in our party 
who have St. Etienne ribbons upon them. There are many 
thousand people here who work only on ribbons, many 
millions of dollars worth of such goods being annually 
exported. 

Let us enter some of the establishments. Many of them 
consist of a single hand loom in the home of the weaver. 
How pale and wan the workpeople look, and how their 
tired faces stand out in contrast with the bright threads 
they are using. They must work very carefully upon the 
best ribbons, and some of them labor many hours a day 
for wages much lower than those paid in our country. 

How beautiful the ribbons are ! They are of all kinds. 
Some have flowers and birds raised in satin on soft silken 
grounds. There are ribbons of gold and ribbons of silver, 
ribbons decorated with all sorts of leaves, and ribbons as 
wonderful in their colors as a peacock's tail, all made in 
these mean little homes. 

We next visit some of the towns where they make lace. 
There is one not far from St. Etienne where nearly every 
family is engaged in this work, and where in one little 
district there are more than a hundred thousand lace 
workers. Most of them are women, but there are many 



COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING FRANCE. 105 

small children knitting away. We often see the workers 
sitting in the street outside their houses, plying their 
reels, and even find them in the market places and on 
the church steps. They are making the torchon lace 
which is sold all over the world. Some of the most deli- 
cate patterns are stitched upon pillows, while others are 
put together with needles. 

The centers of the woolen and linen industries of France 
are also quite interesting. We have all heard of lisle 
thread gloves and stockings, and we wish to visit the place 
where they are made. This is at Lisle, a city of two 
hundred thousand people in northeastern France. Cam- 
brics are made at the town of Cambrai (koN-bra/), not far 
from Lisle. 

There are curious manufacturing villages in the Jura 
and Vosges Mountains, little Pittsburgs walled in by 
hills, each of which has its blackened chimneys and clouds 
of coal smoke. One town produces nothing but clocks, 
another makes nails, and a third, strange to say, devotes 
itself to the study of noses. In the last the people are all 
engaged in manufacturing spectacles, making them so they 
will fit the long nose, the short nose, and no-nose-at-all 
people, all the world over. 

But there is one thing we must see before we go on to 
Paris, and that is how they make china. The French are 
noted for their beautiful porcelains. You will find their 
wares in almost any town of our country, the plates or 
dishes being stamped with the name of the place of their 
manufacture. Many of the finest bear the word Limoges 
(le-mozb'). That town is one of the centers of the porce- 
lain manufacture of France, and there we shall go. Li- 
moges lies in the south-central part of the country, near 
some rich coal mines and close to the beds of fine white 



I06 FRANCE. 

clay of which the china is made. We watch them dig 
the clay from the earth, and follow it to the mills, where 
it is ground very fine. It is next mixed with water into 
a stiff paste, and this paste is treated in certain ways until 
it becomes a mass not unlike bread dough after kneading. 
The workmen take the white dough and mold it into all 
sorts of beautiful dishes, vases, and other such things, which 
are then put into kilns and burnt until they are as hard 
as glass, when they are taken out and cooled. Some of 
the dishes are painted and some are decorated with gold. 
Some are as thin as an eggshell, and so translucent that 
we can almost see through them. 

Later on in our tour we visit St. Cloud (saN kloo'), near 
Paris, where the famous Sevres (savr) ware is made. The 
factory there has been in the hands of the government for 
more than one hundred years, its chief object being to 
design beautiful things for the benefit of private manufac- 
turers. While we are in the works we see a tea set worth 
three thousand dollars, and copies of famous pictures on 
porcelain, some of which sell for as much as ten thousand 
dollars apiece. They are very beautiful, but far too costly 
for us. 

XII. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF 
THE WORLD 

LET us stand together on the top of the Eiffel Tower 
and take a look over Paris before we begin to explore 
it. We are nine hundred feet above the ground on a great 
framework of iron, rising upon the banks of the Seine in 
the midst of the most beautiful city of the world. 

Below us lies a vast network of cream-colored houses, 



THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD. 107 

built in regular lines along wide streets which cross one 
another in almost every direction. There is a wall around 
the edges, and with a glass we can see many forts with 
soldiers moving about on the ramparts. Paris has been 
compared to a camp. It is about twenty-two miles in cir- 
cumference, and is the largest city of continental Europe. 

Look down upon it and see how clean everything is ! 
Notice the very wide streets. They are walled with mag- 
nificent buildings and lined with great forest trees. Those 
are the famous boulevards of Paris. Each of them has 
sidewalks as wide as the ordinary roadway, and the space 
between is paved with asphalt or smooth wooden blocks. 
The streets are washed with the hose every morning. 
They are swept and mopped, and in the evening the rag 
pickers go about and pick up the scraps of paper, cloth, 
and other things which fall during the day. 

See how the river winds its way through the city, and 
how the water sparkles under the rays of the sun. It is 
so far down that the many boats upon it look like toys, 
and the men on the quays like pygmies hanging over 
little stone walls. That is the Seine. It flows from here 
down to the sea, with a deep channel most of the way, 
and this has been so dug out that ships that do not draw 
more than ten feet of water can come right up to Paris. 
This has made Paris the chief port of France, although it 
is situated one hundred miles from the coast. There are 
boats there below us which have come from London and the 
other ports of northern Europe. There are always boats 
floating down from the upper parts of the Seine, and if 
we should travel up the Marne, which joins the Seine just 
outside Paris, we might find a canal by which we could go 
clear to the Rhine, where other boats would take us out 
through Belgium and Holland to the North Sea. 



io8 



FRANCE. 



What a number of railroads there are coming into Paris 
from every direction. This is the railroad center of France. 
You can get fast trains here any day for any capital of 
Europe. Seven hours will take you across the Channel 
to London ; we could leave now and be in Berlin in the 
morning, or going on reach St. Petersburg, the capital of 
Russia, by day after to-morrow. That train which is shoot- 



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" That is the Seine." 

ing off to the south is bound for the Mediterranean, there 
goes another on its way to Switzerland, and there are other 
roads in that network of steel which extend on to the 
Rhine and the Danube, carrying the fast Oriental express 
by which one can go from Paris to Constantinople in less 
than three days. 

Cast your eyes down to the Seine. See that little island 
farther on up the river, with the great church upon it. 



THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD. 109 

That is the Isle de la Cite upon which the Parisii, a tribe 
of half-savage men, had their chief town when Caesar sub- 
dued this part of Gaul, almost two thousand years ago. 
Caesar conquered the Parisii and rebuilt the town. It 
became an important settlement under the Romans, and 
centuries later was made the capital of France, having 
been the residence of the French kings for almost one 
thousand years. 

But let us go down and begin our explorations of Paris. 
We take carriages and drive for miles through one beauti- 
ful street after another, all walled with cream-colored build- 
ings of five and six stories. The buildings are in blocks 
built close to the inner edge of the sidewalk, and they look 
so much alike that we wonder that a Parisian does not 
sometimes lose his way and go into the house of his neigh- 
bor. There are no gardens except at the back of the 
houses, or in little courts inside them. Each building con- 
tains many families. The Parisians live in flats or apart- 
ments, and even in the best sections of the city there are 
stores on the ground floor, with homes on the floors 
higher up. One family will have five or six rooms; it 
may be a dining room, parlor, and kitchen, with two or 
three bedrooms, all on the same floor ; and many must 
climb three or four pairs of stairs every time they go in 
doors or out. 

This is one reason why we see so many people on the 
streets and in the parks. The French love the open air, 
and as most of them can have no gardens of their own, 
they come to the boulevards and walk up and down. 
There are benches on the streets where we see women 
knitting, and there are crowds walking in the public gar- 
dens at almost any time of the day. Girls take their sew- 
ing out on the streets, and chat and work while they 



no 



FRANCE. 



watch the people go by. We see women stitching and 
knitting outdoors; they knit even while riding on the 
street cars, and we are rarely out of sight of a woman 
working away at a stocking. Each of the public gardens 
and parks looks as though a picnic was being held in it, 
especially on Saturday afternoons, when many families eat 
their lunches under the trees. 





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Arc de Triomphe. 

We drive to the Arc de Triomphe (ark d'tre-oNf') and 
down through the Champs felysees (shoN' za-le-za/) to the 
Place de la Concorde (koN-kord'). The Arc de Triomphe 
is one of the most beautiful monuments of the world. It 
was begun by the great Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate 
the glories of the French in some of their wars. We are 
delighted with the Champs Elys^es. They are beautiful 
gardens with a magnificent avenue bordered with trees 
running through them. Every afternoon the avenue is 



THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD 



III 



crowded with carriages, and men and women on horseback, 
and under the trees on each side children are playing all 
sorts of games. There are little booths where toys and 
cakes and candies are sold, and there are merry-go-rounds 
and Punch and Judy shows. 

But there is so much to see that we leave our carriage 
and walk down the avenue. Isn't it interesting to watch 




Champs Elysees. 

the French children playing? They are romping about 
almost as lively as little Americans; and we cannot help 
wishing we knew enough French to stop and play with 
them. 

Those chairs along the shady side of the walk are not 
free. If you sit down in one it will cost you a penny, 
whether you sit there an hour or a minute. It is only the 
benches that are free to the public. 

But here we are in the Place de la Concorde. How 
beautiful it is ! I dare say we shall not see anything 



1 1 2 FRANCE. 

so fine elsewhere in our travels. We are surrounded by 
gardens and parks and beautiful buildings. There at the 
east is the Garden of the Tuileries (twe'le-riz), where the 
kings of France used to live, and just beyond are the Grand 
Museum and Art Gallery of the Louvre, one of the finest 
of its kind in the world. At the west as far as we can see 
runs the Champs Elysees with the great Arc de Triomphe 
on the hill in the distance, while on the south is the Seine, 
with its boats of all kinds puffing along to and fro, with 
the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies on the opposite 
bank. 

Now let us turn our backs to the Seine and look in the 
opposite direction. That tall round pillar with Napoleon's 
statue on top rising high out of the houses is the Column 
Vendome (voN-dom'), made from the cannon which Napo- 
leon captured from the Austrians and Russians ; and that 
church to the left is the Madeleine, one of the most beauti- 
ful of the whole world. A little farther on our eyes catch 
the roof of the Opera House, another magnificent struc- 
ture ; while near us in the Place are beautiful fountains, the 
great obelisk brought here from Egypt, and statues repre- 
senting the chief towns of France. 

But let us go for a walk on the boulevards. They are 
filled with people laughing and chatting. There are many 
fashionably dressed men and women moving along arm 
in arm. There are laborers in blue cotton walking 
this way and that. Newsboys are crying their papers, 
girls are peddling flowers, and hawkers are selling pic- 
tures, toys, and all sorts of knickknacks. We pass crowds 
of people eating and drinking out on the sidewalks. There 
are cafes at every few steps, and most of them have more 
customers without than within. Families are chatting as 
they eat and drink. Many men are reading the papers, 



THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD. 



113 



and not a few boys are playing dominoes at tables out in 
the street. 

What fine store windows ! The boulevards are lined 
with shops, and as we go along we seem to be walking 
through a great expo- 
sition. Paris is cele- 
brated for its beauti- 
ful wares, known as 
" Articles de Paris." 
It makes the finest 
of furniture, clocks, 
silverware, bronzes, 
and pictures. We 
pass many jewelry 
stores where pre- 
cious stones set in 
all shapes are spread 
upon purple velvet 
cushions behind the 
plate glass ; and stay for a time in the great department 
stores, and wander about among so many fascinating knick- 
knacks and fine goods of all kinds that we do not wonder 
that people from everywhere come to Paris to shop. We 
have trouble in tearing away the girls of our party from 
the millinery and dressmaking establishments, for the latest 
styles in hats and gowns come from Paris, and they think 
anything they buy here is sure to be new. 

We next visit the Halles Centralles (al soN-tral') to see 
something of the markets of Paris. The French have 
great respect for their stomachs, and the best of every- 
thing comes to the capital. The Halles Centralles are the 
largest markets of the city. They are great pavilions of 
iron and glass, covering, all told, about twenty acres. 




— cafes at every few steps.' 



114 



FRANCE. 




" — we find the markets already crowded." 

It is early morning, and we find the markets already- 
crowded with women dressed in white caps and short petti- 
coats, and men in caps and blue blouses, all gathered about 
little pens where the supplies for the day are being sold at 
auction. We stop before a stall where they are selling 
chickens at wholesale. That Frenchman in white cap 
and apron behind the counter is the auctioneer, and the 
black-dressed woman beside him is his cashier and 
bookkeeper. Nearly all the buyers are women, who 
bob their white-capped heads up and down as they shout 
out their bids, shaking their hands at the auctioneer as 



THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD. 



115 



they do so. The chickens are brought to the stall in 
crates on the heads of porters, and disposed of at the rate 
of a crate to the minute. 

Through one pavilion after another we go, past crowds 
who are buying eggs, butter, and cheese, jostled now and 
then by the market women rushing hither and thither, and 
by blue-bloused porters who are carrying great loads of 
vegetables and meat on their heads. In another pavilion 




" — selling baskets of live rabbits." 

we see women selling baskets of live rabbits, and in an- 
other stall farther off, oysters and snails and frog legs. 
We ask a snail seller about her business, and are told that 
a million pounds of snails are sold here every year. They 
are esteemed a great delicacy, and when ready for eating 
bring about one franc a dozen. Many are imported from 
Switzerland and many come from the vineyards of France. 
A little later the retail market begins. The thousands 



Il6 FRANCE. 

of stalls have been trimmed up for the day and all wares 
are neatly displayed. The officer in charge tells us that 
the food sold at wholesale alone brings in more than a 
hundred thousand dollars a day, and that the supplies come 
from all parts of France, from North Africa, and from all 
over Europe. He shows us reindeer from Norway, mut- 
ton from England, eggs from Belgium, and bread made of 
wheat grown in the United States. 

How queer the bread is ! It is baked in loaves about as 
long and as thick as a baseball club, so long that they 
reach high above the head of that boy who is carrying 
some home. Let us buy one and taste it. Is it not good ? 
Yes, the French cook everything well; we have not tasted 
frog legs and snails, but our everyday meals are delicious. 
We soon become fond of the French way of living, al- 
though it is different from ours. We enjoy the light 
breakfast of a cup of coffee, two rolls of bread, and a 
pat of unsalted butter. This we have upon rising ; it is 
the breakfast of well-to-do people all over France. The 
poor eat still less at this time, many having nothing but a 
piece of dry bread and a glass of cold water. Some well- 
to-do people take their breakfasts in bed, and at our hotel 
we are told that we may have our coffee in our bedrooms 
without extra charge. 

The next meal comes about noon. The French call it 
breakfast with the fork ; it consists of meat and vegetables 
with sometimes a soup, and it is usually quite as good as 
our midday dinner at home. The people eat slowly, and 
in parts of south France two hours are set aside for this 
meal, when even the business men stop work for lunch and 
a nap, or a chat with their friends. 

The chief meal of the day, however, is dinner. This 
comes in the evening, when every one eats as well as his 



HOW FRANCE IS GOVERNED. 



117 



purse can afford, even the poor having a soup, vegetables, 
and some kind of meat and a dessert. Among the well- 
to-do the dinner consists of a half dozen courses or more, 
the plates being changed at each course and only one piece 
of meat or one vegetable brought on at a time. Such a 
meal usually ends with a small cup of black coffee. 



>aK< 



XIII. MORE ABOUT PARIS — HOW FRANCE 
IS GOVERNED. 

WE are delighted with Paris. Everything is bright 
and gay. The city is a vast treasury of industry 
and art, and there is something worth seeing wherever we 
go. We stroll through palace after palace filled with pic- 




The Louvre. 



Il8 FRANCE. 

tures, and in the great museums of the Louvre grow so 
tired of the long galleries walled with fine paintings that 
we are glad to leave them for the Garden of the Tuileries 
and the children playing on the Champs Elysees. 

We make excursions to Fontainebleau and Versailles in 
the suburbs of Paris, where in times past the monarchs of 
France had vast country homes surrounded by extensive 
gardens and forests. Their palaces still stand and we re- 
people them with the scenes of French history as we 
wander from bedroom to bedroom and parlor to parlor, 
now sitting in a chair where Napoleon Bonaparte sat, 



Versailles. 

and now patting the cradle-like bed where his little son, 
the king of Rome, lay when he was a baby. We go 
through the rooms where Marie Antoinette and the Em- 
press Josephine lived, and admire their gorgeous furniture 
and the beautiful paintings which look down from the 
walls. 

At Fontainebleau we take a drive through the forest, 
stopping at the fish pond near the palace to watch the 
carp swimming about. An old Frenchwoman in a white 



HOW FRANCE IS GOVERNED. 



119 



cap and blue gown comes up with some bread. We 
buy a loaf, break it in pieces, and throw them into the 
water. The great fish rush for the bread. They push 
each other about and fight for the crumbs, even as the 
nobles fought with one another for the favors of the kings 
who once lived in that palace. 




" — admire their gorgeous furniture." 

Returning to Paris, we make a trip under ground. About 
one tenth of the city is built over catacombs, great cellar- 
like caves made by digging out the stone from the deep- 
lying quarries. More than a century ago some of the 
buildings above these caves began to sink in, and the gov- 
ernment decided to use the catacombs as tombs. They 
strengthened the roofs and divided the caves into rooms, 
filling them with the bones of the dead from the cemeteries 
of Paris. The cemeteries were centuries old, and so full 

CARP. EUROPE — 8 



120 



FRANCE. 



that it is estimated that the skeletons of three million peo- 
ple were taken from them to these catacombs. We are led 
by our guide down the steps into the caves and are shown 
chapels walled with human bones. The sight is a hor- 
rible one, and we pant for pure air. 

Leaving the catacombs, we spend part of the day in go- 
ing through the sewers, taking a boat and riding for miles 
through one great tunnel after another. We are below the 
water mains, in tunnels so big that a railroad train could 
run through them without touching the walls or the roofs. 
A wide water way with pavements on the sides runs along 
the bottom, so that we can leave the boat and walk along 
away down here under the great city. The water comes 
from the Seine, and ij; moves so fast that there is no per- 
ceptible odor. Paris has about eight hundred miles of 
such tunnels, so many that if they were placed end to end 
they would reach as far as from New York to Detroit ; they 

have cost a vast sum, but they 
have made Paris healthful. 

We finish our underground 
journey near the church of 
the Madeleine, in one of the 
gayest parts of gay Paris, and 
our eyes are dazzled as we 
come again to the street. We 
stop at the flower market at 
the side of the church, and 
buy bouquets of the little old 
women in white caps and 
clean calicoes who sit there 
behind counters and chat with their customers. 

We spend a few minutes in the Madeleine and later on 
visit Notre Dame, another famous church, and then go to 




Notre Dame. 



HOW FRANCE IS GOVERNED. 



121 



the Pantheon, where many of the noted Frenchmen are 
buried, and from there go to the Hotel des Invalides (o-tel' 
da-zaN-va-led') to take a look at the tomb of Napoleon. 

The Hotel des Invalides was founded centuries ago as 
a home for the old soldiers of France. It is situated on 
the south side of the 
Seine, and is inhab- 
ited by many French 
veterans, one of 
whom acts as our 
guide. He leads us 
into the church, and 
shows us the great 
circular crypt under 
the dome, where Na- 
poleon's sarcopha- 
gus lies. We lean 
over the marble bal- 
ustrade and look 
down upon an im- 
mense block of red- 
dish brown granite 
thirteen feet long, 
fourteen feet high, 
and six feet wide, resting on a pedestal of polished green 
stone. It is a gigantic coffin which was cut from one solid 
block in the quarries of Sweden, and brought here at an 
enormous expense. The crypt is floored with mosaic, deco- 
rated with crowns of laurel in stone. There are monuments 
about it, and the old soldier points out this quotation from 
Bonaparte's will which is carved on its entrance : " I desire 
that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine in 
the midst of the French people whom I have ever loved." 




Tomb of Napoleon. 



122 FRANCE. 

We have seen monuments and pictures of Napoleon, 
not only in Paris, but in all the cities of France. He is 
the greatest of the French heroes, and as you read more 
of history you will learn how wonderful his life story was. 
He was born of well-to-do parents in the little French 
island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean Sea, and began 
his studies in a military school. Later he entered the 
army in Paris and was made a lieutenant. He rapidly 
rose from one rank to another, until at last he commanded 
the whole of the French army, having proved himself the 
greatest general of Europe. He became emperor of the 
French, and as such waged wars with the other nations 
of Europe, conquering them one after another, until at 
last it seemed that he might make himself ruler of the 
whole world. Then there was a combination of the Rus- 
sians, Germans, English, and Austrians against him ; they 
joined armies and finally defeated him. They drove him 
from France, telling him that he might be the emperor 
of the island of Elba, a little place not so big as Corsica, 
for the rest of his life. This was in 1814. 

About a year later Napoleon slipped out of Elba and 
came back to France. As soon as he landed, his old 
soldiers flocked to him from all parts of the country ; 
the French government gave its support, and he soon 
had another large army. He marched against the Powers 
which had defeated him, and a great battle took place 
at Waterloo, in Belgium, where Napoleon, although he 
fought very bravely, was finally defeated. 

After that his enemies resolved that Napoleon was 
too dangerous a character to be allowed any freedom 
whatever. They decided to keep him a prisoner for 
life. They banished him to the rocky little island of 
St. Helena, in the Atlantic Ocean, off the west coast of 



HOW FRANCE IS GOVERNED. 123 

Africa, and kept him guarded there until he died. He 
was buried in St. Helena, but years afterwards his remains 
were brought back to France and placed in this tomb. 

During Napoleon's time France became the greatest 
empire of Europe. It is now a republic in which the 
people elect their own rulers and govern themselves. 
The French have a President, just as we have, and their 
laws are made by a Senate and Chamber of Deputies, 
the latter corresponding to our House of Representatives. 
It is but a few steps from the Hdtel des Invalides to 
the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies, a magnificent 
building on the banks of the Seine. We stroll along the 
river to the palace, and going by the colossal statues of 
Prudence and Justice at the entrance, walk up the stairs 
to the front doors. 

We present our cards of admission from the American 
Minister to Paris to one of the guards, and he gives us 
seats in the gallery of the Legislative Hall, from where 
we can look down upon the chief branch of the Congress 
of France. The room. is in the shape of a half moon. 
The members sit in semicircular rows rising one above the 
other to the back of the chamber. The President, who 
holds the same position as our Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, sits on a rostrum in front. 

Notice that little desk in front of the President. One 
of the members has just left his seat and gone into it. 
He is addressing the Chamber, but he is speaking in 
French and so rapidly that we cannot understand what 
he says. Now he has finished and another man has taken 
his place. In our Congress the members rise at their 
seats when they address the House, but here every one 
speaks from that desk. Watch the man who is talking! 
See how he gesticulates and how excited he is! Now 



1 24 FRANCE. 

he is interesting his fellows ; they are clapping their 
hands, and making even more fuss than the members of 
the House of Commons did the day we were there. The 
President raps on his desk with a paper knife, and calls 
order, but the men do not mind him. See ! He has taken 
a silver bell and is ringing it. Several members are 
shouting for order, and we wish we knew enough French 
to understand the cause of all this commotion. 

Leaving the Chamber of Deputies, we go to the Senate 
in the Palace of the Luxembourg, and then crossing the 
Seine, make a short call upon the President of France in 
his official palace on the Champs Elysees. From him and 
other officials we learn that France is very well governed, 
although many of its methods are different from ours. 
The President, for instance, is chosen not by the people 
through an electoral college as in the United States, but 
by the majority vote of the Senate and Chamber of Depu- 
ties. His term lasts seven years, and his salary, including 
the amount given him for entertaining, is five times as 
much as that of our President. 

He has a cabinet like our President, but, while the 
President of the United States may select any American 
citizen to be one of his Ministers, the French President 
must choose his cabinet from the Chamber of Deputies. 
He may conclude treaties with other powers, but must not 
declare war unless Congress assents, and every one of his 
acts must be countersigned by a Minister. 

We call upon the Ministers, who give us many details in 
regard to the government. The Minister for the Colonies 
gives us maps showing the enormous possessions and de- 
pendencies which France has outside Europe. They have 
a total area larger than the whole United States, or more 
than sixteen times as large as France itself. 



THE BUSIEST WORKSHOP OF EUROPE. 



125 




XIV. BELGIUM — THE BUSIEST WORKSHOP 
OF EUROPE. 

WE have left 
France and 
aretravelingthrough 
Belgium. How busy 
it is and how crowd- 
ed ! The farms are 
small and the farm- 
houses are scattered 
so thickly over the 
landscape that the 
country seems one 
vast town, each little 
farmhouse having its big garden about it. The people are 
everywhere working ; women and men are spading the 
fields. Many women are hoeing and weeding ; we see them 

doing all sorts of farm 
work, and pass many 
fields in which they are 
cutting the grass and 
throwing it about, mak- 
ing hay. There are no 
fences. The crops of 
wheat, oats, rye, and 
flax stand out like the 
patches of a crazy quilt 
as we ride through them. 
The Belgians are the best of farmers, and they cultivate 
their little land so well that it produces more to the acre 
than almost any other part of Europe. 




— making hay." 



126 



BELGIUM. 



What excellent roads ! They are even better than the 
highways of France. Many are paved with stone blocks 
fitted closely together, and some are shaded by great forest 
trees which seem centuries old. The farmhouses and barns 
are low, one-story buildings roofed with red tile or gray 

thatch. See those chil- 








Belgian Peasant. 



dren going along with 
their mother. They all 
wear wooden shoes. 
This is so of most of 
the poor people of Bel- 
gium, and also of those 
of Holland and many 
parts of northern Eu- 
rope. 

Now we are passing 
a little city half hidden 
in smoke, and we see 
almost everywhere the 
smokestacks of manu- 
facturing towns stand- 
ing out against the 
blue sky. Even in the 
farm districts we are 
rarely beyond the hum 
of weaving machinery 
or the din and buzz of 



mills making all sorts of things out of iron and steel. 
Belgium is one of the great workshops of Europe. It is 
only one fourth as big as Pennsylvania, and about one 
eighteenth as big as France ; but nevertheless it is quite 
important in its commerce and trade. 

It is easy to see why this is so : Belgium has such rich 



THE BUSIEST WORKSHOP OF EUROPE. 



27 




In Antwerp. 

soil that its people can raise nearly all their own food, and 
in the south it is so underlaid with iron and coal that it 
can have all sorts of factories. It has also many railroads, 
good waterways, and excellent seaports at Ostend and Ant- 
werp (see map, p. 1 34), so that it can easily ship goods to 
and from all parts of the world. In addition to this it is 
surrounded by people who are glad to buy what it makes. 
On the south live the rich, thrifty French, and on the east 
the Germans, while on the north in Holland are the Dutch, 
another rich business nation. The English are just across 
the Channel, and railroads connect the country with the 
Rhine and all parts of Europe. 

In addition the Belgians are noted for their industry and 
their skill in handling machinery. They were famous as 
manufacturers even before the discovery of America, when 
their cities were among the richest of Europe. During 
the Middle Ages Antwerp was almost as important as 



128 BELGIUM. 

London, and ships from everywhere came there for 
fine goods. Then a thousand vessels could be seen at one 
time in the river Scheldt, and five hundred loaded wagons 
passed daily through the gates of the city. The people 
then made so much money in weaving fine cloths, in other 
industries, and in commerce, that the leading men dressed 
in velvets and satins. They had their guilds or trades 
unions, and in the great cities we shall see the old town 
halls, magnificent buildings put up at that time. 

The burgomasters or mayors of the principal towns 
were very proud. It is related that when they once 
went to Paris to pay homage to King John of France 
they were displeased because they were not furnished 
cushions at one of the banquets held in their honor. They 
wished to show the French how they felt, and, as the 
story goes, took off their velvet cloaks all covered with 
embroidery and sat upon them. When the banquet was 
over, they left their cloaks on the seats. They were re- 
minded that they had forgotten their cloaks, whereupon 
one of them scornfully answered, "We Flemish are not 
accustomed to carry our cushions away after dinner." 

In traveling about we find that the Belgians are still 
making beautiful cloth. They have large woolen and linen 
mills at Ghent and elsewhere, and also factories in which 
thousands of women and girls are weaving cotton from our 
southern States. We go to Liege where there are large 
iron works, to Tournai to see Brussels carpets made, and 
to Brussels and Mechlin to study the manufacture of lace. 

Belgium produces some of the finest lace of the world. 
Its soil and climate are especially suited for flax. It grows 
almost everywhere. We travel through fields where 
roughly dressed men and women wearing wooden shoes 
are kneeling, weeding the flax, and through villages 



THE BUSIEST WORKSHOP OF EUROPE. 



129 



where they are breaking it and turning it into thread 
for linen and lace. 

There are thousands of women and girls in Belgium 
who do nothing else but make lace ; and in some places 
almost all are engaged in this work. The lace is made 
upon pillows, the design being marked out with pins. 
Every worker has her own pillow, and only one can work 
on one piece at a time. The threads are wound in and 
out through the pins, over and under, making the lace. 
The finer pieces require months, for in some of them 
eight hundred different threads are needed, and a girl 
may be weeks in making one handkerchief. 




A Brussels Milk Cart. 

Some lace is white and some black. It is of many dif- 
ferent grades, each of which has its own name. Much of 
it is made into vests, collars, and cuffs, some into fans, and 
some into dresses for babies and brides, a fine lace dress often 
costing as much as ten thousand dollars. We are shown 
lace fans worth fifty dollars apiece, and find it easy to hold 
in one hand a hundred dollars' worth of very fine lace. 

We spend some time at Brussels, the chief industrial city 



130 



BELGIUM. 



of Belgium, and also its capital. It has long been noted 
for its beauty and has so many fine buildings that it 
reminds us of Paris. We walk along the boulevards, 
watching the people chatting at the tables outs-ide the 
cafes ; and stop to buy some lace at the principal stores in 
the Boulevard Anspach. This street is one of the finest 




" — we visit the palace of the king." 

of Brussels, and strange to say it is built over a river. 
When the city was first started it was on the banks of the 
Senne ; but the people thought it unhealthf ul to have an 
open stream running right through the town, so they built 
a wall over it and covered it with stone and earth ; and 
now you have to go out of the city to know that a river 
runs through it. 

Later on we visit the palace of the king, spend a few 
hours in the Belgian Parliament, and drive through the 



THE BUSIEST WORKSHOP OF EUROPE. 1 31 

great park outside the town. We go to the museums and 
the markets, asking questions everywhere, but even those 
of us who speak French have great difficulty in making 
ourselves understood. Many of the Belgians understand 
neither French nor English, and more than one half of 
them speak Flemish, which is somewhat like a mixture 
of German and Dutch. The other part speak French, but 
even they have many strange words, and it is only when 
we meet the people of the educated classes that we can 
make ourselves understood. 

The Belgians have been greatly affected by the nations 
about them. In the south and in the cities they are much 
like the French. They speak more French than Flemish, 
and, like the French, they are fond of music and dancing. 
Every large town has its park where, on holidays, the 
bands play, and the people walk about or dance. Every 
city has its amateur musical clubs ; and Bruges, Antwerp, 
and Ghent have annual musical contests, where the best 
performers get prizes. 

We are delighted with the chimes. Belgium is a land 
of fine bells ; they are rung not only in the church steeples, 
but also in the towers of the town halls, some towers having 
as many as one hundred bells which are rung in chimes 
every day. In the large cities the bell ringer is an accom- 
plished musician, who plays upon the bells, using keys like 
those of an organ, except that they are much larger. The 
work is so hard that the performer wears thick leather 
gloves, and it takes so much strength that even a strong 
man becomes exhausted at playing the bells in a quarter 
of an hour. 

In northern Belgium the people are more like the Hol- 
landers, and we need an interpreter almost everywhere, 
for they use many Dutch words. 




132 BELGIUM. 

We make an excursion from Brussels out to the battle- 
field of Waterloo, where Napoleon and the French were 
defeated by the allied armies under the Duke of Wellington, 
in 1815. It is only a half hour by train and a short ride by 
carriage to the bottom of the great hill which has been 
thrown up in the center of the battlefield as a monument 
of the event. On the top of this hill, on a pedestal of 

granite, a bronze lion, the 
emblem of Belgium, has 
been erected. We climb 
up and stand beside the 
lion while our guide de- 
* >'' "-'.■■ scribes the stirring scenes 

of the battle. The coun- 

Monument at Waterloo. -,-, ■> , • 1 

try all about is covered 

with green. The land is now cultivated close up to the 

hill, and as we watch the farmers working so peacefully 

among their crops, we cannot realize that upon that same 

ground was fought one of the greatest battles of history. 

We ask our guide about the battle, and he describes it in 

vivid language, although he evidently favors the French. 

He tells us just how the battle should have been fought, 

and apparently thinks that if he had been present to advise 

Napoleon the French might have conquered. He tells us 

how the people in Brussels expected Napoleon to conquer, 

and how they were surprised at the news of his defeat, 

repeating Byron's poem describing Brussels on the eve of 

the battle — 

" There was a sound of revelry by night, 
And Belgium's capital had gathered then 
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 
A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 1 33 

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 

And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; 
But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell! 
Did ye not hear it ? — No ; 'twas but the wind, 

Or the car rattling o'er the stony street ; 
On with the dance! le>- joy be unconfined; 

No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet 
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet. — 

But hark ! — that heavy sound breaks in once more, 
As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; 
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! 

Arm ! Arm ! it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar ! " 

The other verses describe how the terrified Belgians 
acted, and also some features of the battle. 

It takes us just an hour to go from Brussels to Antwerp, 
the great port of Belgium. It is situated on the river 
Scheldt (skelt), about sixty miles from the sea, and has 
a harbor almost as large as that of London. We walk 
along the magnificent docks made by Napoleon y I, passing 
steamers from the United States, England, Africa, and all 
parts of Europe. We visit the great cathedral, where we 
see the famous pictures made by Rubens, who was born in 
Antwerp ; then we take a train for Holland. 



>X*c 



XV. A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 

HOW would you like to live not far from the ocean, in 
a land below the level of the sea, where the fishes 
swimming at the surface outside are higher up than your 
head, and where the ships are even with your second-story 
windows ? This is the nature of a great part of the 
Netherlands. The word " Netherlands " means lowlands, 
and Holland may be derived from hollow-land. 



KETHERILA1SCDS 

AND 

BELGIUM 



SCALE OF MILES 



6 10 20 




Eonen'tude 



(134) 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 1 35 

Lying at the western end of the great plain which ex- 
tends across Europe from the Ural Mountains to the 
North Sea, the country was formed by the earth washings 
from the Alps and highlands of Germany and France, 
brought down by the Rhine, the Maas, and the Scheldt. 
The land is so low that these streams have been walled in 
to prevent the spring floods from covering it, and enor- 
mous dikes or embankments of wood, stone, and earth have 
been built along the coast to keep the sea from rushing in 
and drowning the people. 

Less than one half the country is so high that no walls 
are needed. The rest is the result of a long fight be- 
tween the Dutch people and their enemy, the sea. The 
dikes are their fortifications made to keep old Neptune 
out. They have been centuries in tearing their land away 
from the waters. Acre by acre, farm by farm, township 
by township, and county by county, they have wrested it 
from the sea, until now they have one of the best little 
countries of Europe. 

They accomplished it in this way. First they marked 
out a certain piece of swampy land, and put walls about it, 
and then pumped up the water by windmills into canals so 
that at last it flowed out into the ocean. They made ditches 
to drain the inclosed land, and when it became dry they 
cut it up into fields, planted trees, and built houses. Then 
they marked out another piece and reclaimed that the same 
way. They had to keep the pumps going, and we shall 
see windmills everywhere tossing their huge arms about, 
raising the water ; for it requires thousands of windmills 
and many steam pumps to keep Holland dry. We shall 
see how the fight with the ocean is still going on when we 
visit the dikes, and how the brave Dutch are ever victori- 
ous. They are getting more land every year, and they are 



136 THE NETHERLANDS. 

now building dikes to drain the Zuider Zee, a great bed of 
shallow water three-fourths as big as the state of Rhode 
Island. 

Is not this wonderful ? It seems even more wonderful 
as we go along the coast and see how the great dikes are 
built. Most of them are as tall as a three-story house, and 
so wide that two carriages could easily be driven upon 
them side by side without touching. There are so many 
dikes in Holland tfiat if they could be lifted up, placed 
end to end, and dropped down upon our country, they 
would make a great wall reaching from Boston clear across 
the Appalachian Mountains to Chicago, and on to the 
Mississippi River, across Iowa to the Missouri, and hun- 
dreds of miles on into Nebraska. 

In making a dike the first thing is to get a foundation. 
Great forest trees are trimmed off and driven down deep 
into the sand in two wide rows facing the sea. These 
mighty fences are walled with planks which are studded with 
an armor of flat-headed nails so that the teredo, the wood- 
eating sea worm, cannot get at them. Now, huge blocks of 
granite or other stone, brought mostly on ships from Nor- 
way, are thrown in between the walls, and on the top earth 
is added, and so, gradually, a great rampart is built up. 
Some of the dikes are faced with masonry, and others 
have walls of basketwork to hold in the stone and earth. 
Trees are planted on top, and grass is sown upon the top 
and sides, that the roots may aid in binding the whole 
together. 

The dikes are carefully guarded. During the winter 
they are watched by men day and night. Then Neptune 
seems most angry at the loss of his territory, and in his 
rage he drives the sea almost to the top of the dikes. He is 
always watching for a crack or a break, which he knows he 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 1 37 

can quickly enlarge. The people appreciate the danger, 
and they have watchmen to warn them. At critical times 
the alarm bells are rung, and every one hurries to help 
build the dike higher, or to repair it. Notwithstanding all 
this, the ocean sometimes breaks through, as was the case 
about seventy years before Columbus discovered America, 
when a tidal wave swept in, flooding towns and villages, 
and drowning more than one thousand people. 



i— 1 






fS^I^Br^V ^^(HBpiL 



"The canals of Holland are almost as wonderful as the dikes." 

The canals of Holland are almost as wonderful as the 
dikes. There are about two thousand miles of them in 
the country ; some great ship water ways, and others little 
ditches dividing the fields like fences, the bridges with bars 
across them serving for gates. The biggest canals con- 
nect the great cities of Holland and the sea. Amsterdam 
has the North Sea Canal, a wide water way fifteen miles 
long and twenty-five feet deep. This canal is walled by 

CARP. EUROPE — 9 



138 



THE NETHERLANDS. 







enormous dikes, and it flows above the rest of the country 
out to the sea, where there are great gates to keep the 
ocean from rushing in. 

In many Dutch cities the canals form the principal 

streets, and in the country they serve as highways and 

roads. As we travel through Holland we see huge ships 

"i • - -- : apparently sailing 

£5S ? 4 through the green 

grass, and some- 
times notice their 
tall masts moving 
along above the tops 
of the trees which 
now and then line 
the canals. Here is 
a boat loaded with 
wheat hauled along 
by a horse on the 
bank. There is one 
filled with vegeta- 
bles dragged onward 
by two men who 
bend over and pull 
at a rope attached 
to its mast, and there 
is another loaded with hay moved by a woman, a boy, and 
a dog, all harnessed together. The boy and the woman 
bend almost double, forcing the boat through the water by 
throwing their weight against the wide straps over their 
breasts to which the towline is fastened. Both wear 
wooden shoes, and we cannot see how they can move 
along as they do. Other boats are being pushed onward 
with poles from the decks, and not a few are aided by sails. 




Storks. 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 



139 



But what are those queer long-legged birds we see wad- 
ing about through the ditches, poking their heads into the 
mud ? Those are storks, and they are after frogs, worms, 
and other things which live in the canals and the ditches. 
The storks are great friends of the people, for they eat the 
reptiles which destroy the dikes and embankments. We 
see storks' nests in the trees and on the chimneys of the 
farmhouses, and frequently spy one of the great birds rest- 
ing on one leg on the roof. 




" Nearly every farmer has one." 

Notice the windmills. They stand in rows along the 
canals, and we often count a hundred in sight. Nearly 
every farmer has one. Each mill consists of a huge 
tower with arms or sails from fifty to one hundred feet 
long. The tower is so large around that the first story is 
often used as a house. The most of the windmills are for 
pumping water from one level to another in draining the 



I4Q THE NETHERLANDS. 

fields, but others grind corn, and furnish the motive power 
for sawmills and factories. Holland is so flat that the 
winds from the ocean blow as regularly as at sea, and 
the mills can be relied upon to do their work every day. 

Many of the country roads are along the canals, and 
near them are railroads and steam tramways. . Holland 
has a good railroad system, and steam and electric tram- 
ways have been built all over the country. We travel 
mostly on the tramways, stopping now to explore a quaint 
city or village, and now to chat with the farmers about 
their cattle and corn. 

It is summer, but the fresh air from the sea keeps us 
delightfully cool. How beautiful it is ! There are rows 
of tall willows along many of the canals, and the combina- 
tion of water and green fields foruis ever changing pic- 
tures. We stand on the bridges and watch the fat cattle 
grazing. How clean they are and how smooth ! They 
look as though they had been curried. They are eating 
from feeding boxes out in the fields. Although the grass 
grows luxuriantly, many of the people feed their cows in 
the pastures, and they know just what food will produce 
the most milk. The Dutch people are noted for their 
delicious butter and cheese, which they export so largely 
to England that Holland is sometimes called the dairy 
farm of Great Britain. Notice how careful they are 
of the cattle. Many of the fine cows are covered with 
blankets to keep off the flies. In the spring they have 
covers to protect them from the cold rains, and in the 
winter they are brought into the house and stabled under 
the same roof as the family. 

Holland has but few barns. Wood is scarce, and all 
stone has to be imported, so the people find it cheaper to 
build one large house, and give up a part of it to hay lofts 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. I4I 

and cattle, than to have separate stables or sheds. The 
most of the houses have low walls and very high roofs ; 
the walls are whitewashed, and the roofs are of red tile or 
gray thatch made so steep that the rain quickly runs off. 
Every house is kept clean inside and out, even the stable 
being frequently scrubbed. Most cows have their daily 
cold bath, and in some stables there is a ring in the rafter 
over each cow to which her tail is tied up while milking. 

In the summer the cows stay in the fields and the peo- 
ple go out to milk them. See, there is a girl milking now. 
Her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows, and she sits on 
the heels of her wooden shoes as she draws out the milk 
in white streams. There comes a man with a wagon full 
of brass cans. He has driven across the bridge into the 
pasture, the girl brings her pailful of milk, and pours it 
into one of the cans, and goes on to milk more. 

The Dutch are excellent farmers. We pass rich fields 
of wheat, barley, and oats, and see everywhere potatoes 
and other vegetables growing. We spend some time in 
the great flower gardens about Haarlem, where they raise 
the finest of tulips, hyacinths, and gladioli, exporting the 
bulbs to all countries. More than a million dollars' worth 
are shipped away every year, including vast quantities to, 
the United States. 

The Dutch are fond of flowers, and at one time they 
went almost wild over tulips. It was at about the time 
Boston was founded. Then Holland had tulip bulbs that 
actually sold for their weight in gold and some that brought 
much more, for it is said that one kind of bulb, known as 
the Semper Augustus, was worth an amount equal to 
fifteen hundred dollars of our money. 

The tulip bulb is somewhat like an onion, and a story is 
told of a rich merchant who was showing one of the bulbs 



142 THE NETHERLANDS. 

to a friend, when a sailor came in and announced that a 
cargo of silk had arrived. The merchant in his hurry laid 
down his Semper Augustus, and the sailor, thinking it an 
onion, picked it up and went away with it. When the 
merchant came back he was almost crazy at the loss of his 
treasure. He rushed through the town looking for the 
sailor, only to find that the sailor had sliced up the bulb to 
eat with his lunch, before he had found it was a tulip and 
not an onion. 

Take a look at that crowd coming upon the opposite side 
of the canal. What good faces they have. Both men and 
women are rosy cheeked and bright eyed. It is a holiday, 
and they have on their best clothes. The men wear short 
jackets and full baggy black velvet trousers, held up by 
wide belts at the waist, and fastened with silver buckles as 
big as the palm of your hand. They have on caps with 
wide brims, and their long hair is cut straight off at the 
neck. 

The women wear short skirts and some are bare armed. 
What is that bright stuff on their heads ? It looks like 
silver or gold shining out, through their lace caps. There 
are horns of gold sticking out on each side of their eyes. 
Those are the helmets which many Dutch women and girls 
wear on special occasions. They are thin plates of gold or 
silver, or imitations of those metals, so made that they fit 
the head like a cap, almost covering the hair. The gold 
ones are very costly, and are kept in the family from one 
generation to another. 

Now look at their feet. Did you ever see such shoes ? 
They are as white as newly planed pine. They are wood, 
and though they look clumsy, they serve very well, espe- 
cially in a damp country like Holland, where it rains so 
frequently that the ground is often as soft as a sponge. 



A COUNTRY BELOW THE SEA. 



143 




"The women wear short skirts." 

There comes a party of little children ! Their fathers 
and mothers are watching us from the bank, and the 
little ones have stopped for a moment to play. They are 
dressed much like their parents. How they run over the 
ground in their thick wooden shoes ! I am sure not one 
of us could run any faster. Observe how the little ones 
greet their parents, and how they hold on to them as they 
stand open mouthed and stare at our boat. The Dutch are 
fond of their children ; they send them to school and give 
them quite as many advantages as we have at home. 

There are few people better educated than the peo- 
ple of Holland, and there are none who have more of 
the elements which make up really good men and good 
women. They have had to fight so hard to build up their 
country and keep back the sea, that they have become 



144 THE NETHERLANDS. 

strong and self-reliant. They have had to watch their dikes 
so carefully that they have grown cautious, and the long con- 
tinued work of building the dikes has made them patient 
and industrious. Being on the sea, they have become a 
nation of traders, and have grown rich by their thrift. 

There is one thing for which the Dutch are especially 
noted. All travelers speak about it. Look around and 
see if you can guess what it is ! Observe the fresh paint 
on the bridges, the new whitewash on the houses. Look 
down on the deck of our canal boat ! See how it has 
been scoured until it is as white as snow. How clean 
everything is ! The Dutch are famous for keeping things 
clean ; they are so neat that it is sometimes oppressive. 
We walk on our tiptoes when we enter the houses, for 
the floors fairly shine, and the front steps are washed 
every day. In our early morning walks through the city 
we have to go carefully to keep from being spattered with 
water. Bare-armed housemaids in white caps and short 
dresses are scrubbing the streets and washing down the 
house fronts. Each girl has a mop on a long pole so that 
she can reach every crack and corner. She first washes 
the windows and walls, and then scrubs off the doorsteps 
and pavement. 

XVI. IN THE DUTCH CITIES — AMSTERDAM, 
ROTTERDAM, AND THE HAGUE. 

ABOUT one third of the people of Holland live in 
towns. There are thirty towns of more than twenty 
thousand inhabitants, and several large cities. Amster- 
dam, the largest city, is as big as Baltimore. Rotter- 
dam, which is the chief seaport, is as big as Buffalo. 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. 



H5 



and The Hague (hag), the capital of Holland, is about the 
size of Indianapolis. Amsterdam and Rotterdam have 
ship canals connecting them with the ocean, so that big 
vessels come into the cities to load and unload. 









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" — they largely take the place of streets." 

Almost all the Dutch towns are cut up by canals, and 
in some the water ways are so many that they largely 
take the place of streets, boats containing all kinds of 
goods being dragged through them. The city canals are 
walled with stone and the ways along their banks smoothly 
paved. In some places the houses are built close to the 
canals, so that the children can easily lean out of the win- 
dows and drop their fishing lines into the water; or, in the 
winter, when everything is frozen, can put on their skates 
inside the house, and slide off to school. In both city and 
country, a large part of the winter travel and traffic of 
Holland is on the ice of the canals. 

The Dutch cities have fine buildings ; they have beauti- 



146 THE NETHERLANDS. 

ful palaces, large stores and banks, free libraries and 
museums, schools of all kinds, concert halls and theaters, 
public gardens and parks. The people dwell in large 
houses, several families often living in the same house. 

Let us take a stroll through Amsterdam, and see for 
ourselves how a Dutch city looks. We start at the Dam, 
the chief public square. This is one of the great business 
centers. Here are the stock exchange, the king's palace, 
and many fine stores and hotels. We climb up the steps 
inside the palace tower, and when we come out at the top, 
we are high above the biggest city of the Netherlands. 

Look at the vast expanse of red-tiled roofs below us. 
They are ridge-shaped, and out of their sides little dormer 
windows faced with white curtains protrude. See the 
broad canals running in all directions through the red 
field. There are almost as many canals here as in Venice. 
They divide the city up into islands, and three hundred 
bridges are required to connect the islands with one 
another. Notice the ships moving along through the 
streets ; in the wider canals the masts are above the roofs 
of the houses. Isn't it strange ? 

Now look beyond the red field of houses. See that 
great silver sheet out there upon which the sun dances. 
That is the wide Zuider Zee (zoi'der za), and that canal 
going through it, bearing a stately line of ships, is Amster- 
dam's chief highway to the ocean. 

Now look down at the docks in the city ! This is one of 
the great shipping stations of Europe. There are vessels 
from Java, Sumatra, and almost every other part of the 
world. Amsterdam has been a noted port for centuries, 
and although Rotterdam has now the more shipping, Am- 
sterdam is still one of the chief coffee and spice markets. 
The Dutch have many colonies in the East and West 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. 



H7 



Indies ; and their great steamers are always carrying goods 
to the colonies and bringing sugar, coffee, and spices and 
other things home. 
The Dutch own more 
than sixty times as 
much land outside 
Holland as in the 
whole of Holland it- 
self. 

Now turn your eyes 
again from the water 
to the land. See the 
green fields beyond 
the red city, striped 
with silvery canals. 
Those white spots on 
the landscape are cat- 
tle, and the little round 
towers, each flinging 
its arms about in cir- 
cular motion as though 
it were practicing 
some new exercise 
with Indian clubs, are 
windmills. What a 9$ Z 
lot of towns and vil- \^ 
lages there are scattered ~^i 
over the country — those % 

white cottages are the 
homes of the farmers. 

Let us climb down and take a walk through the streets. 
How tall the houses are and how sharp their peaked 
roofs! Most of them are of five and six stories. Many 




A Canal in Winter. 



I48 THE NETHERLANDS. 

lean far from the perpendicular, as though about to topple 
over into the canals, or to fall on the shoulders of their 
neighbors across the way. 

There is a new house just going up, and farther on 
foundations are being laid. Let us stop and see how they 
are working. The men are driving great piles down into 
the earth. The land beneath Amsterdam is as soft as a 
swamp, and these streets and all the houses and buildings 
about us are standing on the tops of trees driven down 
into the ground. This made Erasmus, a noted scholar of 
Rotterdam, say that " the people of Amsterdam live like 
birds, in the tree tops." 

Sometimes the piles settle unevenly, causing the build- 
ings to lean. They seldom fall down, however, so we may 
walk on and feel perfectly safe. Nevertheless we must 
be careful at the bridges, for many of them are moved 
about now and then to let the boats through, and a stray 
step might drop us into the water. 

Take another look at the houses ! See how clean they 
are and how neat. Observe those little mirrors set at 
right angles with the walls just outside each window. Can 
it be that the people lean out for fresh air while making 
their toilets ? No ! Those mirrors are to let the owners 
learn what is going on in the street without looking out. 
They are so arranged that a woman can knit away in her 
chair and see all who pass by. She can see her callers 
before they ring the door bell, and can watch her children 
coming home from school when they are still blocks away. 

Let us enter one of the stores. The prices marked on 
the goods are in Dutch, and it takes some time for us to 
tell just what things cost. The Dutch money is in guldens 
or florins, and cents. A gulden is a silver coin a little larger 
than our twenty-five cent piece. It is worth one hundred 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. 1 49 

Dutch cents, or forty cents of our money. There are half 
guldens, quarter guldens, tenth guldens, and twentieth gul- 
dens, each of which has its own name. The quarter gulden 
is called a kwartje, the tenth a dubbeltje, and the twentieth 
a stuyver, the last being worth about two cents of our 
money. There are copper cents and half-cents, each worth 
respectively two fifths and one fifth of an American cent. 
There is also a silver coin, the two and one-half gulden 
piece, the size of our dollar, and there are gold pieces 
worth ten guldens, or four dollars of our money. 

We spend a ten-gulden piece in making purchases, and 
in change for our gold are given a handful of kwartjes, 
dubbeltjes, and stuyvers, and also a good lot of Dutch cents. 
It really seems that we have more money now than when 
we came in, and we generously reward the first beggar we 
meet with ten copper coins, which are worth not more than 
two cents. 

Fortunately our merchant speaks English, and we have 
no trouble in making ourselves understood. We find the 
Dutch language difficult to pronounce, and make our way 
about by signs when our guides are not with us. The 
Dutch is one of the Teutonic tongues, being somewhat 
like a mixture of German and English. 

Leaving the stores, we visit the factories. The Nether- 
lands have no coal fields of value, and hence there are 
fewer factories here than in France, Belgium, or England. 
Still, the cities can get cheap coal from abroad, for they 
are situated close to the sea, and, besides, the wind aids 
the steam in running their mills. The Dutch import 
quantities of raw silk and wool, and a great deal of our 
cotton ; and they make excellent cloth of all kinds. They 
are noted for their manufactures of china and of many kinds 
of machinery, as well as for their gin, a spirituous liquor, 



150 THE NETHERLANDS. 

There is one thing that requires great skill which the 
Dutch do better than any other people. . I wonder if you 
can guess what it is. You need not look in Holland for 
the reason, for this business has nothing to do with any- 
thing raised here. It is connected with mines. Is it com- 
posed of gold, iron, silver, copper, or zinc ? No, although 
they may furnish tools to aid in the work. It has to do 
with the diamond, the costliest precious stone upon earth. 
Amsterdam is the chief place of the whole world for 
polishing and dressing diamonds so that they will shine 
most beautifully and be of the most value. 

As the diamonds come from the mines they are rough 
and misshapen, and often have flaws which lessen their 
brilliancy. In 1456 a Belgian jeweler named Berghem 
discovered that rubbing one diamond over another wore 
off a little of each, and that if he took the powder made by 
the rubbing he could use it to smooth diamonds. The 
diamond, you know, is the hardest of stones. It is so hard 
that only a diamond will cut it, and only diamond dust can 
be used in polishing diamonds. 

After Berghem made this discovery, jewelers began to 
study how to make diamonds more beautiful. The Dutch 
engaged in the business, and with their wonderful patience 
and skill became so proficient that they now polish dia- 
monds better than any one else. They know just how to 
split them so as to remove the flaws, and how to grind 
them into prismatic shapes so that they will blaze under 
the light like balls of fire. There are more than sixty fac- 
tories for dressing diamonds in Amsterdam, and some of 
them employ hundreds of hands, including many women 
and girls. 

We enter one of the diamond-cutting establishments, 
and are first shown how diamonds are split. This is done 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. I 5 I 

to remove the flaws. They can be split at the flaws ; and, 
by using one sharp diamond, cemented into a handle, as a 
knife, a rough diamond can be split up into pieces each 
of which is pure or without flaws. The work is carefully 
done, for a wrong stroke might easily destroy a stone worth 
thousands of dollars. 

The next operation is cutting the pure diamond into 
shape. This is done by rubbing it with diamonds which 
have been cemented into handles, and by pressing it on a 
revolving plate upon which diamond dust mixed with oil 
has been spread. The plate, moved by steam, makes 
about fifteen hundred revolutions a minute, and the little 
grains of diamond dust gradually wear off the roughness 
from the diamond till it assumes the prismatic forms which 
it has when it is set into jewelry. 

Notice how carefully the polishers work and how they 
save every grain of the dust. The rubbing and polishing 
is all done over metal boxes into which the dust falls. 
Every bit of it is saved to polish other diamonds ; or, it may 
be, is spread upon a steel wire to make diamond saws, 
which will gradually cut their way through these hardest 
of stones. 

Many of the diamond workers are quite poor. We 
observe that they are dressed in rough clothes, and that 
some look pale and wan. It is sad to think that, although 
they are always working upon stones worth hundreds of 
dollars, they really receive smaller wages than our workers 
in iron. The grinding is confining; and it is trying to 
the eyes, for some of the diamonds are so small that it 
takes eight hundred of them to weigh a carat. The larger 
diamonds are set for jewelry, but the smaller and imper- 
fect ones are used in the arts. Many are bought by 
glaziers to cut glass, some are made into tools for splitting 



152 



THE NETHERLANDS. 



and polishing hard stones, and for boring, engraving, and 
the like. 

Leaving the diamond factory, we take the cars for Delft, 
where a famous china decorated in delicate blue with 
paintings of windmills, ships, canals, and other Dutch 
scenes, is made. The trip is a short one and we are soon 
walking through one large room after another, where 
Dutch boys and men are molding the clay, and with lathes 
are turning it into dishes and ornamental figures. We 
watch the men take their work to the ovens, where it is 
kept under an intense fire for thirty hours and then taken 
out to be painted. After this it is dipped into a bath of 
white glaze, and then fired again, so that the pictures are 
actually burned into the china. 






V'\i'' ' •".*-. *** 



'U^g 



1 * •* 





Houses of Parliament, The Hague. 

From Delft we make a quick railroad journey to The 
Hague, the capital of Holland. It is a beautiful city of 
over two hundred thousand people, situated three miles 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. 1 53 

from the shore of the North Sea and thirty-two miles 
from Amsterdam. 

We spend a day strolling about through its wide streets. 
They are paved with brick and lined with shade trees with 
seats under them ; there are many canals and great vatlike 
ponds here and there in the heart of the city. 

We visit the museum and the picture galleries, and after- 
wards go to the palace of the queen and spend some time 
in the Houses of Parliament. The Dutch government is 
a limited monarchy. It has a Queen and a Congress 
called the States-General. The latter is elected by the 
people, so that in reality the Dutch are almost as free as 
we are. 

Leaving The Hague, we go by tramway to Holland's 
most fashionable watering place, situated about three 
miles away, on the shores of the North Sea. We ride 
to it through a forest park, where the trees stand so 
close to the sides of the railroad that their branches 
meet overhead. We seem to be riding through a long, 
high arbor of green, our heads almost touching the leaves 
as we go. We each pay a dubbeltje for a seat on the 
top of the car. There are ladies and gentlemen riding 
along on both sides of the roadway, and there are so 
many people on fine horses that we are reminded of 
the gay throng we saw on Rotten Row in Hyde Park, 
London. 

At last we arrive at the watering place. It is called 
Scheveningen (sKa/ven-in-Hen), the name of a fishing vil- 
lage, near by. As we get down from the car we see a 
group of queerly clad fishwives walking along in wooden 
clogs, bending half over as they carry great baskets of fish 
on their backs to The Hague. 

Passing these, we go to the beach. The tide is coming 

CARP. EUROPE — IO 



154 



THE NETHERLANDS. 



in, and the waves of the blue North Sea are rolling over 
one another, making great lines of foam as they dash up 
on the sand. How different the scenes are from those 
of our seashore at Atlantic City, Cape May, or Long 
Branch. There are large hotels some distance back from 
the water, but the beach is covered with what look like 
giant bonnets or hoods. They are great wicker chairs, 




On the Way to Scheveningen. 

so made that the people sitting within them are pro- 
tected from the wind and sun, provided they turn their 
chairs the right way. There are hundreds of such hoods 
on the beach, and at first we wonder whether they are not 
some kind of sea monsters sunning themselves on the 
sands, and if they will not soon get up and walk off. 

See the Dutch children playing about ! They are en- 
joying themselves just as we do at the seashore. Some are 



IN THE DUTCH CITIES. 



155 










"The beach is covered . . . with giant hoods." 

digging out forts or building castles, waiting for the tide 
to wash them away. Some are burying their playmates 
in the sand, and some are riding over the beach upon 
donkeys. We hire donkeys ourselves, and race along with 
them, paying only one kwartje, or about ten cents of our 
money, for a ride of an hour. 

After a gallop we hire suits and refresh ourselves with 
a salt water bath in the North Sea. We do not wade 
out from the shore as at home, but hire little bathhouses 
on wheels. As we enter men push and pull them far out 
into the water; there we undress, put on our bathing 



1 56 SCANDINAVIA. 

suits, crawl down the steps, and plunge into the surf. 
When we have finished our swim we climb back into our 
little cab houses, put on our clothes, and then are pulled 
back to the shore. 



3**C 



XVII. THE LAND OF THE DANES. 

WE decide to visit Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 
before beginning our tour of the great German 
Empire. We are tired of traveling by land, and therefore 
take ship at Rotterdam for Copenhagen. Our steamer car- 
ries us out through the canal into the North Sea, and up 
through the Skagerrack, about the peninsula of Jutland, 
and down through the Cattegat into the long narrow sound 
which separates the Danish Island of Zealand from Sweden, 
and which forms the principal entrance to the Baltic. 

Denmark has been called the Keeper of the Baltic. It 
consists of the northern part of the peninsula of Jutland, 
and the islands to the east, with some smaller islands out- 
side. It is a little country not more than twice as big as 
New Jersey, but it almost blocks the entrance to this vast 
inland sea. 

The sound where we now are is only seventy miles long, 
and a little more than a mile wide at its narrowest part, 
but nevertheless it is the chief gate through which the 
ships that carry on the commerce of Scandinavia, North 
Germany, and Russia must pass on their way to and from 
the ocean. There is another passage, but the sound is by 
far the safer and better. 

What a lot of shipping there is all about us! There 
are Russian vessels from St. Petersburg ; German vessels 



SCALE OF MILES 

0* £5 I5o 150 200 




Longitude East 16 f>nm Greenwich 



(157) 



158 SCANDINAVIA. 

from Lubeck, Stettin, and Kiel ; Danish vessels from all 
ports, and vessels from New York, London, and Havre. 
Now we are passing Elsinore, the little city which was 
the scene of Shakespeare's play of " Hamlet," and which 
has in times past been very important to this part of the 
world. Elsinore was the place where all the ships passing 
through the strait had to stop and pay toll. The Danes 
once owned not only the Island of Zealand on the right, 
but also that part of Sweden on the left. They con- 
trolled this gate into the Baltic, and made every ship 
which passed through pay well for the privilege. It was 
largely from this system of tolls that Copenhagen became 
a great city. It has an excellent harbor, and the ships 
stopped there on their way through. The w^ord " Copen- 
hagen " means "Merchant's Haven." 

After a time many men came to Copenhagen to buy 
and sell goods, and the Danes sent their ships from 
there to all parts of the world, so that it has grown into a 
great commercial center. Later on Denmark entered into 
the treaties which made the Sound free to all nations. 
This has so increased the commerce that thousands of 
vessels now pass through it every year ; the most of the 
ships stop at Copenhagen. 

The result is that Copenhagen is one of the principal 
ports of northern Europe. It is as big as Detroit, and 
is important, not only as the capital of Denmark, but also 
because it is the chief manufacturing and industrial city 
of the country. We find the harbor filled with vessels as 
we steam in by the great forts and come up to the wharves. 
We push our way through the crowds of men who are 
loading and unloading the ships, and then, having sent our 
baggage on to the hotel, start out for a walk. 

How clean the streets are ! They are narrow, but well 



THE LAND OF THE DANES. 



59 



paved and well kept. So many of them have canals that 
we are reminded of Amsterdam. There are cars and 
carriages moving this way and that. Great drays are 
carrying freight to and from the docks, and the business 
streets are crowded 
with foot passen- 
gers. The buildings 
are chiefly of stone 
or light-colored brick 
with tiled roofs. 

Notice the stores ! 
Many are on the sec- 
ond floor, and we 
have to go upstairs 
to do most of our 
shopping. We pass 
large churches and 
other big buildings. 
We go to the stock 
exchange and then 
visit the palace in 
which the king lives. 

Later in the day we spend an hour in the Danish Parlia- 
ment, and through our interpreter try to learn something 
about the government. The Danish Parliament or Con- 
gress is called the Rigsdag (rix'tac). The Danes have a 
King, but they decide for themselves through the Rigsdag 
what the laws are to be, how much they are to be taxed, 
and just how the money from the taxes shall be spent. 

The Rigsdag is composed of two Houses. The upper 
one is called the Landsthing. It is much like our Senate ; 
but some of its members are appointed by the king, and 
others are selected from the chief taxpayers of the coun- 




How clean the streets are! 



i6o 



SCANDINAVIA. 



try. The lower House is called the Folkething. In this 
all the members are chosen by the vote of the people ; no 
man is allowed to vote until he is thirty years old. 

Leaving the palace, we take a stroll through the beauti- 
ful parks for which Copenhagen is noted. We spend 




" — the business streets are crowded with foot passengers." 

some time in the Tivoli Garden listening to the music of 
the bands and watching the children play about on the 
green. 

We visit the Thorwaldsen Museum, and then make a 
photograph of the bronze statue of Hans Christian Ander- 
sen, of whom the Danes are so proud. You may or may 
not have heard of Thorwaldsen, the great sculptor, but 
every boy and girl ought to know of Hans Christian 



THE LAND OF THE DANES. 



161 



Andersen, for he composed some of the most beautiful 
stories ever written for children, among which are " The 
Tin Soldier," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Match Girl," 
and how little Tuk learned his geography lesson in his 
sleep. 

Hans Christian Andersen was born in the Danish town 
of Odense (o'den-sa). He was the son of a poor shoe- 
maker, and his mother 
wanted to make him a 
tailor ; but he was fond of 
books, and told her he 
would rather go away and 
try to become famous by 
writing. He had only 
about five dollars when he 
arrived in Copenhagen, 
but he worked and studied, 
and after many misfor- 
tunes succeeded in getting 
a good education. When 
his stories were published, 
they were liked so well 
that kings and princes in- 
vited him to their palaces 
to have him read to them. 

He traveled much, but his last days were spent in Copen- 
hagen. Here all the children knew him. The boys took 
off their hats when they met him and the girls bowed. 
He was a kind old man and told them many stories, often 
seeking out children who were sick to amuse them. He 
died here in 1875, and the people then erected this statue. 
In the statue the great story-teller is sitting ; on one side 
of the pedestal has been engraved a picture from " The 




1 62 



SCANDINAVIA. 



nlWl^^i f f 






Ugly Duckling," and on another side a little child riding 
on the back of a stork. 

Before leaving Denmark, we take a railroad train for a 
rapid run over the country. It is nearly all flat and the 
greater part of it is pasture. This is so, not only in Jut- 
land, but in the Danish islands as well. There, are rich 
crops of wheat, oats, and rye in some places, and now and 
then a patch of potatoes. We see many beech trees, and 
the roads are frequently lined with them. 

The pastures, however, are more important than any- 
thing else. How well the grass grows. See the fat cattle 

feeding upon it. 
There are many dai- 
ries, and we stop now 
and then to watch 
the men and women 
making butter and 
cheese. Denmark is 
one of the best dairy 
countries of the 
world, and I doubt 
whether there is any 
other land which pro- 
duces so much butter 
in proportion to its 
size. Denmark annually exports to England alone more 
than thirty million dollars' worth of butter, and it sends 
butter in tin cans to all out-of-the-way parts of the world, 
where the people for any reason do not make butter them- 
selves. It ships millions of eggs and a great deal of bacon 
and other kinds of meat. 

Now we are passing through one of the small Danish 
towns. It has but one long street, bordered by quaint one- 




Danish Milkman. 



THE LAND OF THE DANES. 1 63 

story houses with white walls and roofs of red tiles. The 
houses are neat, and the people seem healthy and happy. 
Notice their rosy cheeks, their light hair and blue eyes! 
They are comfortably dressed and seem well-to-do. The 
Danes are noted for their thrift ; they are industrious and 
economical, and many of them have money in the savings 
banks, which are to be found everywhere. 

The Danes are intelligent. All children are compelled 
to go to school from the age of seven to fourteen, and 
there are few men or women who cannot read and write. 

But how dark it is growing ! We can see only a short 
distance outside the car windows. The wind has blown 
the fog in from the ocean, and the country about us is 
enveloped in mist. Denmark is so low and so surrounded 
by seas that it is often covered with fog. It frequently 
blows hard, and there are also sandstorms which are very 
unpleasant. 

XVIII. WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT 
MIDNIGHT. 

THE Scandinavian Peninsula is often called the "Land 
of the Midnight Sun " because its northern part lies 
within the Arctic Circle, so far north that in the sum- 
mer the daylight lasts for months, when the sun can 
be seen the whole twenty-four hours, and in the winter 
there is continuous darkness for months. This is true of 
only the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, 
although the whole of it is so far north that the summer 
days are much longer and the winter days much shorter 
than ours. We shall notice this as we go onward from 
place to place through it. Even as far south as Christiania 



164 SCANDINAVIA. 

and Stockholm one can read after ten o'clock at night in 
summer out of doors, and when we go to bed we shall 
hang our traveling rugs over the windows to darken the 
room so we can sleep. 

We begin our explorations by a trip to the land of long 
days and long nights, for we wish to see for ourselves how 
the sun looks at midnight. The journey will give us some 
idea of Norway and of the general character of the Scan 
dinavian Peninsula. 

Scandinavia is the largest peninsula of Europe. It is a 
vast body of land, more than four times as big as New 
England, rising abruptly out of the Atlantic Ocean and 
sloping somewhat toward the east and south to the Gulf 
of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea. The land is rugged and 
mountainous. In the north there are snow-clad peaks and 
enormous glaciers. Farther south the mountains uphold 
high wooded plains with many gorges or canyons running 
through them. Some of the mountains are steep, and 
countless streams dash down their sides. 

The peninsula has also numerous lakes, many of them 
joined by canals. In Norway alone there are three thou- 
sand, while in Sweden the lakes cover almost one tenth 
of the country. Norway is much more rainy than 
Sweden. The winds from the ocean precipitate most of 
their moisture as they strike the mountains, and when 
they descend the opposite slopes to the Baltic they are 
comparatively dry. 

Along the Atlantic Ocean there is a mountain wall, with 
many great breaks or chasms in it. Some of these chasms 
extend a hundred miles into the land, forming ocean ave- 
nues, as it were, by which the ships can steam far into the 
interior. These narrow arms of the sea are called fiords 
(fyords). They are of great value in commerce and trade, 



WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT MIDNIGHT. 16$ 

and the people have built nearly all their towns and vil- 
lages upon them. They give Norway and Sweden a coast 
line so long that, if it could be stretched out, it would reach 
more than halfway round the world. 

But we shall see this better as we go in our steamer 
along the shore to the North Cape. We make the trip 
leisurely, stopping now and then for a journey into the 
interior by the fiords. Now we have entered one of these 
great breaks in the mountain wall. We are sailing up a 
mighty ravine, right into the heart of the country. The 
walls of trees, moss, and bushes rise above us so high that 
we seem to be roofed with the blue sky. Lean over 
the side of the boat and look down. How clear the 
water is ! It is a hundred feet deep, yet we can see bot- 
tom, and as the vessel slows up we observe the fishes 
swimming about far below us. 

Now we have gone farther inland. We have lost sight 
of the ocean through a turn in the fiord, and we seem to 
be traveling through a mountain-walled canyon. Hear that 
noise which comes from the front. Ask the pilot to guide 
the boat more to the left. The noise is made by that great 
volume of water dashing down into the fiord from the 
cliff on the right. That is a mountain stream which is 
taking its last plunge on its way to the sea. Now we are 
almost under it. Does it not look like a torrent falling 
out of the sky? Now we have gone past. The sun is 
shining through the spray, turning it into myriads of dia- 
monds and painting rainbows high above the surface of 
the fiord. 

As we go still farther inland the height of the walls 
decreases. We find little towns and villages along the 
banks, and now and then a small city. The houses are 
like great wooden boxes on foundations of stone. The 



i66 



SCANDINAVIA. 



walls are painted red, white, gray, or yellow, and the build- 
ings look very pretty against the background of green. 

Now we are back again in the ocean and on our way to 
the north. How smooth the sea is ! This is because 
of the islands which everywhere line the coast of Norway ; 
they form a breakwater against the storms, and give 
the sailors a quiet ocean channel from one end of their 





A 




r - «r 



"We find little towns and villages along the banks." 

country to the other. Is it any wonder that with these 
fiords, this great seacoast, and this easy sailing coast chan- 
nel, the Norwegians should have many seamen ? They, as 
well as their brothers of Sweden, have an enormous number 
of ships. They do much trading and fishing, and you may 
find their merchant vessels in all parts of the world. 

We stay for a day at Trondhjem (trond'yem), on a great 
fiord, and are surprised to find, away up here at the north, 



WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT MIDNIGHT. 



I6 7 




Norwegian Fishermen. 

a city of about fifty thousand, with wide streets, good 
pavements, and fine buildings. It has also shipbuilding 
yards, lumber mills, and fish-packing houses. We visit 
the cathedral, one of the oldest in Europe, and the one 
in which the Nor- 
wegian kings are 
crowned. It is built 
of blue-colored 
slate, and some parts 
of it are beautifully 
carved. 

Trondhjem is the 
third city of Nor- 
way, and is an im- 
portant seaport and 
railroad town. It Trondhjem Cathedral. 

is connected with Christiania by a railroad three hun- 
dred and fifty miles long. It has also much shipping, and 




•fe*4Wfc 



1 68 SCANDINAVIA. 

its harbor is open all the year round, although it is several 
hundred miles farther north than northern Labrador. It is 
nearer the North Pole than the mouth of the Yukon River 
in Alaska, and it is on about the same parallel of latitude 
as southern Iceland. 

. All of these countries are frozen up during the winter, 
and most of them have from six to eight months of ice. 
Why is it that Trondhjem does not freeze too ? It is on 
account of the prevailing westerly winds, which are kept 
warm by the drift from the Gulf Stream. The warm Gulf 
Stream, having flowed along our Atlantic Coast, sup- 
plies to the northern Atlantic a vast amount of warm 
water, which is drifted across the ocean by the westerly 
winds and keeps them warm. These winds give the 
British Isles a temperate climate, and then flood the coast 
of Norway with a bath of warm air. The drift water is 
so warm that all the harbors along the west coast of Nor- 
way are free from ice during the winter, while the harbors 
of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia are frozen. 
The greater part of Norway would be uninhabitable were 
it not for the water-warmed westerly wind. The people 
owe their food, their commerce, their very lives, to it 
Were it not for its heat, the fiords would be blocked with 
ice, and the coast be as cold and barren and desolate as 
Labrador. 

A part of Sweden is colder in winter than Norway, 
although both countries are covered with snow for 
months at a time. The people go about upon sleds 
and skates, and they travel from one place to another 
upon long snowshoes or skis. They have tobogganing 
parties, and enjoy themselves coasting down the steep hills. 
Leaving Trondhjem, we sail northward inside the 
islands, by snow-clad mountains, upon the sides of which 



WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT MIDNIGHT. 



169 



great glaciers hang. We cross the Arctic Circle, and then 
stay for a day at Tromso to have a look at a village of 
Laplanders not far away. Some of the Lapps live in 
tents made of skins stretched upon poles, with a hole in 
the top for the smoke to go out. Others have huts of 
stone and earth, but everything is of the rudest description. 




" — everything is of the rudest description." 

The people gather round us as we walk through their 
little town, offering to pose for our cameras. How dirty 
they are and how small ! They look like dwarfs. The men 
are about five feet tall and the women about six inches 
shorter. They are dressed in reindeer skins with the fur 
on the inside. They belong to the yellow race, and their 
complexions are almost as yellow as their leather cloth- 
ing, their skins having been darkened by the smoke which 
fills their tents the greater part of the time. 



170 SCANDINAVIA. 

The little Lapps look and dress just like their parents. 
All have high cheek bones, flat noses, and large mouths. 
Their eyes are small and black, and often twinkling with 
laughter. They seem good natured, and foi a few cop- 
pers will allow themselves to be photographed as often 
as we wish. 

We see but few reindeer about Tromso. They are to 
be found farther back in the country, where nearly every 
Lapp has his own herd, and where the people live largely 
upon reindeer meat and reindeer milk. They milk the 
reindeer just as we milk our cows, but they can keep milk 
better than we can, with all our ice chests and spring 
houses, for it is so cold in the winter where the Lapps 
live that they freeze the milk into hard blocks, after which 
it will keep for months and they can use it as they need it. 

Many of the Laplanders are nomads ; that is, they have 
no settled habitation. It takes quite a large space to 
support a reindeer, for the vegetation is scanty in these 
northern latitudes, and the people drive the deer from 
place to place to find pasture. In traveling many of 
them use reindeer sledges upon which their tents and other 
things are carried. The reindeer can travel very fast, and 
they take the place of horses in all the lands along the 
Arctic coast of Europe. 

From Tromso we steam on to Hammerfest, to get a look 
at the northernmost town of the world before going to the 
Cape. It is early morning when we cast anchor in the 
harbor, but we are now so far north that it is light through- 
out the whole night. We are far beyond the latitude of 
Iceland, beyond that of Cape Brewster in Greenland, 
farther north than the gold diggings of the Klondike in 
Alaska, and in seas which, were it not for the Gulf Stream, 
would be filled with ice almost all the year round. 



WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT MIDNIGHT. 



171 



Hammerfest is a thriving city. It contains about three 
thousand people, who dwell in hundreds of wooden one 
and two story houses on the edge of the sea. It has 
a telegraph station and weekly newspapers. We eat our 
dinner at a good hotel, and find that the people live well 




Landing, Hammerfest. 

here at the northern extremity of the world. They have 
very long winters, but in the summer for months the sun 
shines all day and almost all night as well. The plants 
then grow very rapidly, and vegetables mature in much 
less time than with us. 

Now we are again on our way to the north. We have 

CARP. EUROPE — II 



172 



SCANDINAVIA. 



left Hammerfest, and in seven hours we shall be at the 
North Cape, the northern extremity of Magero Island and 
at the northernmost point of Europe. We have been 
within the Arctic Circle for days, and are now sailing 
through the Arctic Ocean. The water is clear and of a 
beautiful blue. It is not very cold, for we are still float- 
ing upon the warm drift of the Gulf Stream, although 
we now and then see an iceberg, and we are always in 
sight of the glaciers on the mountains of Norway. How 
fresh the air is, and how pure ! The winds blow continu- 
ally, so that we almost have to fight our way from the 
stern of the boat to the prow. 

Now we are steaming amongst islands, with birds in 
great flocks soaring about in the air over our heads. 

There are scores of 
sea gulls following the 
steamer, and hundreds 
of black and white 
eider ducks flying over 
the islands. The ducks 
are of value for their 
feathers, which are so 
soft and light that they 
make excellent wad- 
ding for quilts. They are also used for trimming cloaks 
and for collars, muffs, wraps, and other such things. The 
ducks build nests of twigs and rushes, and line them with 
soft feathers which they pluck from their own breasts. 
Our captain tells us the ducks are protected by law, as 
many people make their living by gathering the feathers. 
The hunters, when they find a nest, are careful not to de- 
stroy it. They merely take out the feather lining, after 
which the ducks will line them once again. When they 




Eider Ducks. 



WHERE THE SUN SHINES AT MIDNIGHT. 1 73 

have been twice robbed they will slip off and build a nest 
somewhere else. 

As we go on among the islands, we pass many rocks half 
submerged by the sea. See that one away over there at 
the right ! It apparently has a geyser upon it, for it is 
spouting water high into the air. See, it is moving. Take 
your field glass and look again. That is not an island at 
all, it is a whale. There are many whales in these waters, 
and many ships are engaged in catching them for their 
oil and whalebone. There, the great whale has dived, and 
we see him no more ! 

We sail on and on, until at last, rounding a great, bleak 
point of rocks, we enter the harbor of the North Cape, 
and drop our anchor in a little bay surrounded by moun- 
tains, on some of which snow can be seen. We take out 
our lines, and amuse ourselves fishing while we wait for 
the hour when we are to see the sun shining at midnight. 

How slowly the time goes, and how strange is this turn- 
ing of night into day ! The sun was already high in the 
heavens at about three o'clock this morning, when we came 
into Hammerfest ; and when we think of all we have seen 
since then the day seems a week long, and it is hours yet 
till midnight. We look again and again at our watches, ob- 
serving that the sun still stands high above the horizon. It 
is well up at 10. 30 p.m., when we leave the ship for the shore. 
We have decided to climb the bluff which overhangs the 
harbor, for our midnight view of the King of the Heav- 
ens. The captain warns us that we must hurry back, for 
he wishes to leave as soon as we return. He gives us a 
boat, and we row to the land and walk along a rugged 
path through the rocks to the foot of the bluff. The way 
from here on is so steep that we are glad to use the thick 
rope which has been passed through iron rings fastened by 



174 



SCANDINAVIA. 



staples into the rock in order that travelers may help them- 
selves up by it. The bluff is nine hundred feet high, but 
step by step we climb up its bleak sides to the top, and 
take our stand beside the brown stone monument which 
was erected here when Oscar II, King of Sweden, visited 
the Cape about a generation ago. 




North Cape. 

We stop a moment trying to realize where we are as 
we look at the glorious scenes all about us. We are about 
as far north as man ever gets, if we except the few Arctic 
Explorers who have risked their lives in trying to find the 
North Pole. We are at the northern edge of Europe, and 
are looking out upon the great polar world. To the north 
of us are the regions of icebergs, Eskimos, and polar bears. 
To our right and to our left, seas unsailed except by whal- 
ing and sealing ships extend on and on, a vast watery 



WHERE THE SUN RISES AT MIDNIGHT. 1 75 

waste dotted here and there by icy islands where Jack 
Frost reigns supreme. 

And still it is wonderfully beautiful. We are gazing 
over the great Arctic Ocean, which is rolling about under 
a glorious sun. It looks not unlike the Atlantic as we 
have seen it from the rocks of our New England coast, 
when the sun was still several hours from its setting. The 
scene is so fine that we almost forget the time, until we 
notice some rockets shooting up from the ship far below 
us. That is the signaj from the captain for us to hurry, 
as he wishes to sail. We look at our watches, and lo ! it is 
midnight. The sun is as far down as it will go during this 
twenty-four hours, and as near the horizon as it will get for 
months to come. 

We stand on the bluff and wave our American flags in 
honor of the occasion, while we sing " Hail Columbia " 
away up here on the mountain. We go to the edge of the 
bluff and throw stones down into the ocean ; and as we 
look out over it we feel that if we had not a large part of 
Europe yet to explore, we might easily take a boat and 
steam on to the Pole. We wait for a few moments in order 
to say that we have seen the sun rise, although in this lati- 
tude there is little difference between its rising and setting, 
and then we say farewell, and make our way down the 
bluff to our boat. We eat our breakfast on board about 
two o'clock in the morning. The cook has fried the fresh 
cod that we caught when we first came into the harbor, 
and to us, hungry from our climb up the bluff, they seem 
sweeter than any fish ever eaten before. 

An hour later we are again in our cabins, which we have 
darkened by hanging our coats over the port holes, ready 
to take our first sleep after our long working day of more 
than twenty -four hours. 



176 SCANDINAVIA. 



XIX. TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 

WE have left our steamer at Trondhjem, and are 
going through Norway to Christiania by rail. The 
distance is less than four hundred miles, but we spend 
several days on the journey, for we wish to study the 
country. We leave the train frequently, and ride in car- 
rioles from one town to another. The carrioles are 

.little carts not unlike 
"^^^^^^Ju^r^Kfc,— our American sulkies, 

save that each carriole 
has a seat behind for 
the boy or girl whom 
the owner sends along 
to bring it back home. 
„ . . . D Uur carrioles are drawn 

Carriole and Pony. 

by Norwegian ponies. 
They are stocky little cream-colored beasts with Jong tails 
and short manes. They are so patient and gentle that we 
fall in love with them, and wish we could send them home 
to America. They go very fast, and will travel all day 
without tiring/ Sometimes one goes too fast for our com- 
fort. We pull on the reins and cry whoa ! but the pony 
goes faster than ever. At last, in despair, we look back at 
the little boy riding behind. He laughs, and then makes 
a noise like the loud purring of a cat, saying pur-r-r. The 
pony stops instantly, and we thus learn that pur-r-r means 
whoa in Norway. 

Much of our travel is through the forests for which Nor- 
way and Sweden are noted. Scandinavia has long been 
one of the chief lumber regions of Europe. In the north- 
ern part of the peninsula there are vast tracts of pine and 




TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 



177 



fir, and in the south many beeches, elms, and other hard 
wood trees. About the best shipping timber used in 
England and on the continent comes from Scandinavia, 
Sweden sometimes exporting as much as twenty-five mil- 
lion dollars worth of lumber a year. A great deal is 
shipped as logs, some as window sashes and doors, much 
as boards, and not a little split up into matches. Swedish 
matches light the fires of a great part of the world; so 
many are sold every year that, if they were all loaded 
into two-horse wagons, at a ton to the wagon, it would 
take a line of teams more than a hundred miles long to 
carry them all. 

Let us stop our carrioles and think for a moment of the 
possible future of this forest we are now passing through. 
There is a great 
pine which has been 
marked for cutting ! 
Within a short time 
it will start on its 
travels to Holland 
to serve as a pile 
to support one of 
the great buildings 
of Amsterdam or 
Rotterdam. That 
tall tree beside it 
may form the mast 
of a German steam- 
ship which will carry 
goods to South Africa or China, and those others near by 
may be cut up into posts of from three to nine feet in 
length, to prop up the roofs of the tunnels in the coal 
mines of England. Farther on are some which may be 




Peasant Girls. 



i 7 8 



SCANDINAVIA. 



ground into pulp to make printing paper, and they may 
again come before us in the newspapers which a little later 
we shall read at our breakfasts in Vienna or Rome. 

So musing, we go on through the woods and come out 
into cleared lands, where men, women, and children are 




Haymakers. 

cutting hay and curing it for winter. How different it 
is from the harvest scenes of our great western farms ! 
There are no mowing machines, nor iron rakes drawn by 
horses. There are no hay wagons such as we use. The 
men are cutting the grass with scythes, and the women are 
raking it together and carrying it in their arms to those 



TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 179 

racks of wood or wire at the sides of the field, where they 
tie it up in bundles and hang it out to dry in the sun and 
the wind just as we dry our washing. It is so rainy that 
the people dare not let the hay lie on the ground. After 
it is cured it is carried off to the barns by ponies, in little 
wagons not much bigger than baby cribs, which move 
along on small wooden wheels. On some farms the hay 
is packed in baskets and carried home by the women on 
their backs, and on others, where the fields are high up, 
they tie the hay into bundles and slide it down on wire 
ropes to the barns. Sometimes buckets of milk are sent 
down from the hills in this way. The farms are so small 
and so rough that the people could not possibly use our 
heavy farming machinery. 

We stop at one of the farmhouses for lunch, and are 
told we can have bread and milk, fresh eggs, and salmon. 
The farmer's daughter first brings in the bread. It is of 
the kind known as "flat-brod," which is used all over Nor- 
way. It is made of rye meal and water in thin cakes twice 
as big around as a dinner plate, and so hard and crisp that 
we break it like crackers. The fish and eggs follow ; they 
are well cooked and delicious. We have excellent butter 
and very good cheese, and as we go on with our journey 
we find that the Norwegians live very well. They have 
but little meat in many parts of the country, but we can 
always get eggs and fish, and in the north we often have 
venison and reindeer steaks and roasts, with reindeer hash 
next day. 

The country people live plainly in all parts of Scandi- 
navia. The houses are small, seldom containing more 
than two or three rooms, although one farmer may some- 
times have several houses for himself and servants. Every 
one works. We see women knitting away in the hay 



l8o SCANDINAVIA. 

fields while resting, and in the evening find them spinning 
inside the houses. The women and girls make all the 
clothes of the family. They weave the cloth, and cut out 
the garments and sew them. In some parts of Scandi- 
navia they make beautiful lace. The people of one town 
will often follow only one pattern, stitching the same 
pattern over and over again from one generation to an- 
other. The men manufacture the most of their farming 
tools, and not a few make the harness for their ponies. 
The people are well educated. Children are compelled 
to attend school, and nearly every one can read and write. 

Our train is now coming into Christiania, the capital of 
Norway and the second largest city in the Scandinavian 
Peninsula. We take a carriage at the station and drive to 
our hotel, where we leave our baggage and then drive on 
through the city. 

Christiania is about as big as St. Paul and quite as beauti- 
ful. Its wide streets are well paved, and lined with large 
buildings of stone. There are many fine residences and 
public squares and parks. The people must be fond of 
flowers, for nearly every window has a row of plants in it. 

Christiania is situated on a wide, deep fiord, and large 
ocean steamers can sail up into the town. We visit the 
wharves and find there a steamer about starting out for 
Gothenburg (got'en-borg), Sweden, and as we wish to 
cross Sweden by the celebrated Gotha Canal which con- 
nects Gothenburg with the Baltic, we take passage. 

The ride is a short one, and we are soon again upon 
land. Gothenburg is the chief city on the west coast of 
Sweden. It was once famous as a fishing place, and it is 
now important as the western terminus of the Gotha Canal. 
We walk through its long, wide streets, bordered by 
canals walled with stone and crossed with bridges of iron. 



TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 



181 



The city reminds us of the Dutch towns, and we enjoy its 
quaint old houses of brick, its beautiful parks, and its 
canal streets filled with shipping. We go out to the ship- 
building yards, and also visit the factories where they are 
weaving linen and cotton cloth, and making all kinds of 
machinery, paper, matches, tobacco, and sugar. 

It is early morning when we start on our journey up the 
Gotha River and on into the canal. We steam around the 




Falls of Trollhatten. 

high falls of Trollhatten into Lake Wenern (va'nern). 
The canal is about three hundred miles long, but it is so 
largely made up of lakes and rivers that it has only fifty 
miles of excavated water ways. Our boat is carried up past 
the falls by means of eleven great locks, and, after cross- 
ing the lake, we again rise by other locks until we are 
three hundred feet above sea level, on the highest point 
between Lake Wenern and Lake Wettern (vet'tern). From 



1 82 SCANDINAVIA. 

this point we begin to descend ; we fall from one level 
to another by means of locks, till, at last, we sail out into 
the Baltic Sea, and a few hours later are steaming into 
the capital of Sweden. 

Stockholm is a beautiful city. It lies on both sides of a 
channel which connects the Baltic Sea with Lake Malar 
(ma/lar). We coast in and out among islands as we 
come in, and if we should go through into the lake 
beyond, we should find other islands, almost as many as 
the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence above Montreal. 
Stockholm is cut up by water ways. It has bridges con- 
necting its islands, and its water ways are so many and so 
beautiful that it has been called the Venice of the North. 
Everywhere we look we see boats moving about. There 
are many ships at the quays ; the vast buildings rise right 
up from the sea, so that the city looks as though it were 
built on the waves. 

We leave the ship and walk through the city. The 
streets are wide and well paved, and we cross at least two 
bridges every half mile. The buildings are large, and 
there are many five-story structures with dormer win- 
dows stretching their heads out of the steep slanting roofs 
as though asking what the weather might be. There are 
many statues ; for the Swedes are noted as sculptors, and 
are fond of the fine arts. 

We see children everywhere going to school. The 
Swedes are as well educated as any people of Europe, 
and there are very few of them who cannot read and write. 
They are energetic, and so thrifty that when they emigrate 
to the United States, as many of them do every year, 
they soon become good American citizens. It is diffi- 
cult to find stronger, more thrifty, and more intelligent 
people than those of Norway and Sweden. Centuries ago, 



TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 183 

when they were known as the Norsemen, they were noted 
for their bravery on sea and on land; their war vessels 
sailed many seas, and they made themselves feared in 
their wars with the other peoples of northern Europe. 
Now they have proved themselves equally great in the 
arts of peace. 

Continuing with our walk we pass parks and public gar- 
dens at frequent intervals. There are cafes in the gardens, 




Palace of the King. 

and the family parties, sitting about the tables, under the 
trees, in front of them, remind us of the boulevards of 
Paris. 

Notice the people we pass on the streets. What fair 
faces they have, and what very blue eyes ! Scandinavia 
is the land of the blue eye and the tow head. There is a 
girl from the country. We have seen some dressed much 
like her in interior Norway. She wears a cap which 
comes down over her ears, rising in a peak at the front. 



184 



SCANDINAVIA. 



Her short black skirt is of homespun, and her white waist 
has very full sleeves. She has on a long apron of red and 
blue stripes, and about her neck is a bright-colored hand- 
kerchief. There is a little girl clad the same way. We 
shall see many dresses like those out in the country, 
although most of the city people dress as we do. 

But what is that huge building over there on the edge of 
the harbor ? I mean the one with the wide terrace looking 
out over the water. That is the palace of the king of 
Sweden. It contains eight hundred rooms, and is one of 
the fine buildings of Europe. 

The two countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula were 
ruled by one King for many years, although each elected 
its own Parliament which made all the laws for its people. 
This union between Norway and Sweden existed for nearly 
one hundred years, but in 1905 Norway separated from 
Sweden and established an entirely independent kingdom. 
Both countries are constitutional monarchies, and their 
Parliaments are known as the Storthing, in Norway, and 
the Diet, in Sweden. It is provided by law that the Kings 
of these countries must be of the Lutheran faith, for 

this is the established 
church of both Nor- 
way and Sweden. 

Soon we leave 
Stockholm for a trip 

L - out into the country. 

We visit some of the 
great factories for 
which Sweden is noted. 
We go down into the 
iron and copper mines, and travel through many farming 
districts not unlike those of Norway. The farms are 




Old Swedish Grain Cart. 



TRAVELS IN NORWAY AND SWEDEN. 



:8 5 



exceedingly small. Some are not much bigger than a vil- 
lage lot, and some are so long and so narrow that you 
could hardly turn a dray about in them. Sweden has many 
thousands of such little farms. According to law, when a 
man dies his land must be divided evenly among his chil- 
dren, so his farm is cut up into strips and one strip is 
given to each child. Many of the strips are so small that 
there are no houses 
upon them. One 
man often owns a 
score of these little 
farms. 

You would not 
think that people 
could make much out 
of land so divided, 
but the Swedes are 
thrifty and they do 
very well. Their cli- 
mate is so damp that 
grass grows luxuri- 
antly, and they are 
such good dairymen that their butter and cheese sell well 
in all parts of northern Europe. 

We see quite as many women and children at work in 
the fields as in Norway. The women look odd with their 
sharp-pointed caps, short skirts, and bright aprons. There 
comes one now with a baby slung to her back ; the little 
one is wrapped up in a cloth, the ends of which are tied 
over the mother's breast. How can the woman possibly 
work with such a big load on her back ? Her baby will 
surely fall off if she stoops down and tries to tie the grass 
into sheaves as the other women are doing. Yes, that is 




Plowing in Sweden. 



1 86 



GERMANY. 



so, and she knows it ; for, as you see, she has unslung the 
baby, and tied the two ends of the cloth in which it is 
wrapped to the branch of that tree, so that the little one 
swings to and fro in the breeze while the mother works. 
The Swedes are fond of their children. The usual cradle 
is a box with cords tied to its corners and brought together 
above the center, so that it can be hung to a hook from 
one of the rafters. A slight push sets the box swinging, 
and with the motion the little one drops off to sleep. 



3XKC 



XX. IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 



WE have left Stock- 
holm and are 
crossing the Baltic Sea 
on our way to the great 
German Empire. There 
are educated Germans 
on board, and as some 
of us speak German we 
have no trouble in mak- 
ing ourselves under- 
stood. We have so many 
Germans in the United 
States that we feel more 
at home than at any 
time since we left Eng- 
land. So we take our 
maps and try to get a 

general idea of the land and its people before we begin to 

explore it. 




German Peasants. 



IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 1 87 

We learn that the German Empire is composed of 
twenty-six states, of which the largest are Prussia and 
Bavaria, comprising about three fourths of the whole. 
Prussia is much larger than all the others ; and all the states 
are combined under its king into one great confederation 
for protection against the rest of the world and to better 
themselves in commerce and trade. 

What a magnificent country Germany is and what an 
important position it holds on the continent of Europe ! 
As we travel over it we shall see that it could hardly help 
being the home of a great people. It contains more land 
than any of the other European states except Russia and 
Austria-Hungary, and nearly every bit of its territory is 
good for something. 

The most of the empire is one vast farm divided up 
into small fields which are kept like gardens. It has mil- 
lions of acres of vineyards, grain fields, and pastures ; and 
it raises vast quantities of wheat and rye, oats and barley, 
potatoes and sugar beets. It has some of the finest cattle 
of Europe and is noted as a stock-raising country. 

Germany stands next to Great Britain among the mining 
countries of Europe. It has mountains rich in silver, lead, 
zinc, copper, and tin. It has more than a thousand iron 
mines, and rich coal fields not far from the iron, so that a 
vast manufacturing industry has risen upon them. The 
land is a beehive of all kinds of industries. It has hun- 
dreds of factories which make machinery alone, and among 
them are some of the largest in the world. One covers 
more than a thousand acres, and another, just outside of 
Berlin, has built more than four thousand railroad loco- 
motives. 

But Germany has other 'natural advantages in addition 
to its fat soil and rich mines. Its position and the lay of 



1 88 GERMANY. 

the land fit it for the home of a great trading people. It 
is situated in the heart of Europe, surrounded on all sides 
by rich nations. It touches the greatest of the European 
states, and does business with all of them. On the west 
are the French, the Belgians, and the Dutch, all manufac- 
turing people and all anxious to buy and sell. On the 
south are the Austrians, the Swiss, and also the Italians,' 
for they are accessible by the tunnels through the Alps ; 
while on the east is the vast population of Russia. The 
Baltic Sea gives an easy sea road to Norway and Sweden, 
furnishing northern Germany an outlet to the ocean, while 
the safe ports of Bremen and Hamburg make the English 
the next door neighbors of Germany, and give it access to 
America and all other parts of the world. 

Now look at the lay of the land. Germany consists 
chiefly of a vast rolling plain gently sloping toward the 
Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a part of the lowland 
of Europe, which, beginning in Russia, extends westward 
to the Atlantic Ocean. Farther south the land rises ; the 
plateau of Bavaria begins and slopes upward to the foot- 
hills of the Alps ; so that the whole of Germany may be 
called the northern slope of those mountains. 

What should be the condition of such a country? It 
should have plenty of water, for the streams from the 
mountains would flow through it. It should have navi- 
gable rivers, for the slope is so gentle the streams would 
flow slowly ; and it might have canals, for it is easy to cut 
canals through a country comparatively level. This is the 
condition of Germany. The empire has great water ways 
which with their branches inclose it almost like a net. On 
the west the Rhine, fed by Alpine glaciers and snows, forms 
a wide trade route from the south to the north. A few 
miles to the eastward is the Weser, another large river, 



IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 



189 






iWJ*fc 



"ZtrZ'lx. 







Bavarian Farmers. 

and farther east the Elbe, carrying thousands of boats to 
and from the ocean. Still farther to the eastward are the 
Oder and the Vistula, which flow into the Baltic Sea ; they 
are great water ways loaded with traffic during most of 
the year. 

All these rivers have navigable branches, and their main 
streams run almost parallel with one another. Their chan- 
nels have been deepened in places, and such a system of 
canals has been constructed between them that they give 
the western, central, and northern parts of Germany an 
almost perfect system of commercial water ways. In 



1 g Q ' GERMANY. 

addition the great Danube River rises in southern Ger- 
many and furnishes a trade route to Austria- Hungary 
and the Black Sea, connecting Germany with Asia. 

Is not this a fine water system ? It has so many rivers 
and canals that if they were joined end to end they would 
make a navigable highway nine thousand miles long, or 
more than twice as long as the main stream of the Missis- 
sippi-Missouri, the longest river of the world. 

Now observe the lacework of steel tracks which covers 
the German Empire. The land lies so that railroads could 
be easily built throughout every part of it. We shall have 
no difficulty in going wherever we please, for Germany has 
more railroads than any other country except the United 
States. From Berlin there is scarcely a city in Europe 
that cannot be reached in twenty-four hours, and fast 
express trains are always shooting back and forth across 
the empire from one part of the continent to another. 
All the great trade routes go through Germany. By the 
tunnels of the Alps the cars bring the passengers and 
goods from Asia, Africa, and Australia through Italy into 
Germany and other parts of northern Europe; There are 
fast express trains which cross Bavaria on their way from 
Paris to Constantinople, and there are railroads to Russia, 
in addition to the enormous system required for the busi- 
ness of the country itself. 

But something more than a fertile soil, rich mines, a 
network of railroads, good seaports, and navigable rivers 
is needed to make a country great in manufacturing and 
commerce. It is necessary that it have a thrifty people 
with a talent for trade. This is the nature of the Germans. 
They are among the best traders and manufacturers of 
the world, and there are so many of them that they hold 
a very important place in the world's commerce. Ger- 



IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 191 

many has a larger population than any other nation of 
Europe except Russia. Its people are steadily growing 
in number, and are now pushing their commerce into all 
parts of the globe. 

The Germans are fast becoming a great colonial nation. 
They have colonies in Africa and China, and own many 
islands in the Pacific Ocean. They have five times as 
much land outside Europe as at home. They have estab- 
lished their business houses in all parts of the world, 
not only in their own colonies but in all others; so that 
there is scarcely a place of any size in South America, 
Africa, or Asia where you may not find Germans selling 
goods, and buying raw materials and other things to be 
sent back to their people at home. 

There is one thing which every one notices upon enter- 
ing Germany, no matter where he comes in. This is the 
enormous fortifications which guard the country, and the 
soldiers, who are to be seen everywhere. From now on 
we shall be awakened in the morning by the bugle of the 
trumpeters calling the companies to drill. We shall hear 
the military bands playing, and may have a chance to see 
some of the maneuvers or mock battles in which many 
regiments of cavalry and infantry practice at war. 

A rich land like Germany, surrounded by other countries, 
must always be on guard. Its frontier is more than four 
thousand miles long, and at points of strategic importance 
enormous fortresses have been built and military camps 
established. Railroads have been constructed so that 
soldiers can be sent quickly to these camps and fortresses ; 
and the telegraph lines connecting them with the capital 
and with one another have been laid in secret trenches 
under the ground, in order that they may not be easily found 
and cut by the enemy. 



K)1 



GERMANY. 



Germany is always striving to improve her army. The 
people are proud of their soldiers, and indeed they 
have reason to be so, for they have one of the finest armies 
of the world. Every able-bodied man in the country must 
be a soldier, and in times of war boys of seventeen may be 
called into the army. From the age of twenty to twenty- 
seven every well man is expected to serve as a soldier, 

and this has made the 
army so large that if 
the Germans should 
have a war they could 
easily put three million 
men in the field. 

We see something of 
these military defenses 
when, after crossing the 
Baltic, we land in the 
harbor of Kiel. We 
have come here to go 
through the Kaiser 
Wilhelm Canal, which 
has been cut through 
the land from the Baltic 
Sea to the mouth of the 
Elbe, in order that the 
German men-of-war and other ships may be able to go 
out to the sea without taking the long trip around Den- 
mark. This canal is about sixty miles long. It is deep 
enough for the largest steam vessels and so wide that ships 
can easily pass. It was completed in 1895 at a cost of 
almost forty million dollars ; but it is of enormous value to 
the Germans in the way of trade and in the defense of 
their empire. 




A German Windmill. 



IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 1 93 

We steam into the long wide harbor of Kiel, passing 
many German war vessels moving on their way to and 
from the Baltic Sea. There are shipbuilding yards, docks 
fixed and floating, and many foundries and arsenals, mak- 
ing arms and fitting ships for war. This is the chief 
naval station of Germany, and there are many war ships 
here ready to start forth if at any time Germany should 
have trouble with other nations. We are almost deafened 
by the din when we leave our steamer and walk through 
the vast works ; and we enjoy coming out again into the 
busy city of Kiel, and looking at the many merchant ves- 
sels which lie at the wharves ; most of them are on their 
way to or from the canal. 

We enter the canal early in the morning. Our ship is 
raised by a great lock from the harbor to the canal level ; 
the gates in front of us are opened by machinery, and we 
steam slowly on toward the southwest. The ride takes the 
whole day. The distance is not so great, but there are so 
many ships going through that it is stipulated none shall 
steam faster than five miles an hour. 

How interesting it is ! We can see far away on either 
side. The land is low and flat, and in many places sandy 
and swampy. Now we go by a meadow upon which 
fat Holstein cattle are feeding, and now a marsh where 
long-legged storks are wading about, poking their bills 
deep down into the mud, searching for food. We see 
storks' nests on many of the farmhouses; there are wind- 
mills like those of Holland. We pass many ships, and 
wave our handkerchiefs to the people on board. At last 
we enter the great lock at the end, and are lowered down 
to the Elbe, where it flows out into the North Sea. 

Here our ship turns about, and we steam rapidly up the 
wide estuary of the Elbe ; and within a few hours are pass- 




(*94) 



THE SEAPORTS OF GERMANY. 1 95 

ing through the shipping which belongs to the port of 
Hamburg. Our boat steams into the city, and when we 
step off we are in one of the most important commercial 
centers of the world. 



i&ic 



XXI. THE SEAPORTS OF GERMANY. 

HAMBURG is one of the oldest cities of northern 
Europe. The Emperor Charlemagne built a castle 
here about 800 a.d., and even in the Middle Ages Ham- 
burg had considerable trade. It is now the biggest sea- 
port on the continent of Europe, and the chief outlet for 
Germany in its commerce by sea with the rest of the world. 

But why has Hamburg become the principal port of this 
part of Europe? You can see if you will but think for 
a moment of the vast industrial and commercial region 
behind it, and how closely it is connected with it by river 
and canal and by rail. Hamburg lies on the navigable 
Elbe, so far back from the sea that the shipping is safe 
from the storms ; and here great highways of commerce, 
between a great part of northern Europe and the rest of 
the world, converge. On the Elbe itself, goods are carried 
clear across Germany, and on its tributary, the Moldau, 
far into the great industrial province of Austria. All the 
heavy traffic for Berlin now goes from Hamburg by the 
Havel and Spree, and is thence taken by river and canal 
to the great water ways farther east. 

Hamburg has direct connection, not only with our coun- 
try and England, but also with the principal ports of South 
America, Australia, Africa, and Asia, as well as with those 
of other parts of Europe. It has a free port ; that is, no 



196 GERMANY. 

duty is charged on goods which are brought into the port 
for transshipment. We see in the harbor, not only German 
ships, but ships from all other countries. 

We are surprised at the number of vessels discharging 
goods from the United States. See that great steamer 
unloading cotton, the bales being lifted by derricks from 
the ship right into the warehouses ! A little farther on is 
one taking off a cargo of meat, while others are unloading 
wheat and corn in vast quantities. Germany is one of 
our best customers. We supply its cotton mills with raw 
materials, and also furnish a large part of its food, for, 
although the land is rich, it does not raise enough to feed 
all the people. 

There is a tank steamer which has just arrived with a 
load of petroleum. That cargo came from the wells of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. It was carried in pipes 
to the Atlantic seaboard, and will soon be on its way to 
light the lamps in the homes of the Germans all over the 
empire. The Germans consume a great deal of our copper, 
pig iron, and steel, and within recent years we have been 
sending them many manufactured articles. The most of 
our trade with them is through Hamburg and the port of 
Bremen on the Weser not far away. 

Let us continue our walk along the wharves. What 
a lot of them there are, and what a variety of shipping ! 
There is a ten thousand ton steamer which has just arrived 
with a cargo of wool ; it came from Australia, stopping at 
the German colony of New Guinea on the way. There 
are tea and silk ships from China, and there are some 
starting out on their way to German Africa with all sorts 
of goods to be exchanged for palm oil, rubber, and ivory. 
There are English ships discharging manufactured goods. 
Italian ships unloading oranges, wines, and olive oil, vessels 



THE SEAPORTS OF GERMANY. 



197 



from Norway and Sweden loaded with lumber, steamers 
which have just arrived from the west coast of South 
America filled with nitrate of soda to fertilize the beet- 
sugar farms, and steamers from Brazil with their cargoes 
of coffee and rubber. There are so many ships that our 
heads grow dizzy in trying to remember what they contain, 
and we give up in despair. 




Docks, Hamburg. 

We walk along wharf after wharf, past miles of such 
ships. The wharves are so arranged that the vessels come 
right to the warehouses. There are inclosed docks, such 
as we saw in London and Liverpool ; and goods are also 
being unloaded into flatboats or barges, to be towed by 
the canals through the city. There are railroad tracks 
everywhere, so that cars can be brought right to the ships, 
and the freight handled quickly and cheaply. 



198 GERMANY. 

Many of the warehouses line the canals. Some of them 
have their upper stories projecting several feet above those 
below. They look like gigantic stairs turned upside down, 
and seem to be trying to reach out and rub noses with 
their neighbors on the other side of the water way. Ex- 
tending out from the roofs are beams holding pulleys, to 
which long ropes are attached so that they hang down over 
the canal. There is one now, with a barge of wool bales 
just below. The men have wrapped the rope around one 
of the bales and fastened it tight. They have seized the 
other end of the rope, and, aided by the pulleys, are rais- 
ing the bale high into the air. There, it has reached the 
third story of the building, where it is caught by a hook 
and pulled in through the barnlike doors which have been 
opened to receive it. 

Now we have left the ships, and are walking through 
the main business streets of the city. Did you ever see 
anything finer? The stores contain beautiful goods, and 
the sidewalks are crowded with people as well dressed as 
those of New York. 

We visit the Stock Exchange about two o'clock in the 
afternoon, and look down upon the thousands of brokers 
and merchants who are buying and selling. The din is as 
great as that of our stock exchange in Wall Street, but the 
language used is the German, and the brokers shout their 
words so rapidly that we can not understand them. 

We stroll along the Binnen Alster, a great walled pond 
in the heart of the city, and then go out to the zoological 
gardens to see the collections of lions, tigers, and other 
wild beasts for which Hamburg is noted. This place has 
long been famous as a wild animal market. The ships 
from Africa, Asia, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific 
bring wild beasts with them for sale, and any one who 



THE SEAPORTS OF GERMANY. 



199 



wishes can get an elephant, a monkey, a kangaroo, or a 
boa constrictor, if he will but pay the price. 

It is only a short ride by rail from Hamburg to 
Bremen on the river Weser, about forty miles from the 
sea. This is the other chief port by which Germany has 
access to the ocean, and from it many of the German 
emigrants sail for 
America. We see a 
ship starting out as 
we walk along the 
wharves. There is 
a crowd of men, 
women, and children 
at the stern, wav- 
ing with their hats, 
shawls, and hand- 
kerchiefs a last fare- 
well to their friends 
and the Fatherland. 
There are other emi- 
grants going on the 
vessels near by, for 
many, many thou- 
sand Germans leave 
Hamburg and 

Bremen every year " — this quaint old city of Bremen." 

to find homes in the United States. They think America 
is the best of all foreign countries, and they come to 
America to work, knowing that they can soon save enough 
to have homes of their own. They make excellent citi- 
zens, and we are glad to have them come. 

We spend a few hours in examining this quaint old city 
of Bremen. We visit its factories, including its enormous 




200 GERMANY. 

establishments for making cigars, snuff, and smoking 
tobacco, and then take a train for a rapid look at the 
ports of the Baltic, first stopping at Lubeck, on a little 
river about ten miles from the sea. 

Have you ever heard of the Hanseatic League ? If not, 
be sure not to say so in Lubeck, for every child here, 
no matter if he be so poor that he wears wooden shoes, is 
proud that his city was once a part of it. This league 
was for two centuries and more very important in the 
commerce of the world. It was organized during the thir- 
teenth century by many of the great cities of different 
parts of Europe. The people of these cities banded to- 
gether to better their trade, and to protect it from the 
pirates who then infested the seas, and from the " robber 
barons," who lived in castles along navigable rivers and 
exacted heavy tolls from all passing vessels. The league 
provided transport ships and maintained a powerful mili- 
tary force to protect therr . 

The first two cities of the league were Lubeck and 
Hamburg, after which came Bremen, Danzig, Berlin, 
Cologne on the Rhine, Bruges in Belgium, and more than 
seventy others. These cities had their own factories and 
fisheries. They had their own ships, and they also had 
caravans of goods going across Europe. Their merchants 
attended all the great fairs, to which people from every 
where came to buy and sell ; and the cities gradually grew 
very rich and powerful. 

Of these League cities Lubeck was the capital, and 
Hamburg and Bremen were of great importance ; they all 
remained independent towns for many years after the 
others had come under the rule of kings, and it is only 
within a short time that they have been absorbed by the 
great German Empire. 



THE SEAPORTS OF GERMANY. 



20I 



We find in Lubeck many quaint old houses, some of 
which were put up centuries ago. The city still has con- 
siderable commerce, but the discovery of America was the 
death blow to its supremacy. Hamburg, which is only 
thirty-nine miles away, has absorbed most of its trade, and 
it is now even smaller than it was during the Middle Ages. 




In Stettin. 



From Lubeck we go by rail to Stettin. The city is on 
both sides of the River Oder, some distance in from the 
Baltic Sea. It is an important port, for it is the most 
southerly point that can be reached by ships from the 
Baltic Sea laden with goods for Germany. It has a fine 
harbor, and is connected by the Oder and canals with all 
parts of North Germany, its water ways being joined with 
those of the Elbe, and also with the Vistula. 

Stettin is only eighty-four miles from Berlin, and a great 



202 



GERMANY. 



deal of freight is landed here for that city, being taken 
there by railroad as well as by the river and the canals. 
We visit the shipbuilding yards, where the biggest of the 
German vessels are constructed, and then take a train for 
Danzig, the commercial center of northeastern Germany, 
at the mouth of the Vistula. 




. Street in Danzig. 

Danzig is built on two arms of the Vistula, about five 
miles from the sea. It has been called the Northern 
Venice, from the canals running through it. Many of its 
houses are built upon piles. Some have six or seven 
stories, with quaint roofs and old-fashioned doors. We 
see large warehouses with boats anchored before them, 
and rafts, piled high with wheat, which have come down 
the Vistula from the rich farms of eastern Prussia and 
Poland. The wheat is here transferred to vessels which 



BERLIN. 203 

take it to other parts of Germany by way of the Baltic 
Sea, after which the rafts are broken up and sold, and 
their owners go back to their homes on foot. 

There are rafts of lumber brought down the same way, 
and also queer river boats loaded with all sorts of produce. 
There are boats starting up the river with manufactured 
goods and other things which have come in by sea. Dan- 
zig is the outlet for all the timber grown in the basin of 
the Vistula. It has a great trade with east Germany, and 
brings much produce down from Russian Poland as well. 
It is the chief military post of the northeastern part of the 
Empire, and there are great forts all about it, with thou- 
sands of soldiers to guard it. 

There is one fact in the history of Danzig that we are 
likely to recall frequently, especially in the midst of summer 
and winter, when we are always asking how the thermometer 
stands. It was in this city that the man who first perfected 
the thermometer was born, and it was here that he died, a.d. 
1736. His name was Fahrenheit; and so when you are 
told that the temperature is so many degrees Fahrenheit 
above or below zero, you may remember that it was a citi- 
zen of Danzig who has enabled us to know just how hot or 
how cold it is. 

XXII. BERLIN — THE CAPITAL OF GERMANY. 

"I \ J E start out from our hotel in Berlin this morning to 
V V learn something of the capital of the German Empire. 
The sun is shining, and the city looks wonderfully beautiful 
under its rays. The blocks of light yellow houses, four, 
five, and six stories high, seem to have received a fresh coat 
of paint, the gilding and carving on the palaces and great 



204 GERMANY. 

public buildings stand boldly out, and the statues of marble 
and bronze, which are to be seen in the squares, on the 
bridges, and in the gardens and parks, seem almost alive. 
The policemen strut about as spick and span as so many 
dandies, there are soldiers and officers in uniforms among 
the well-dressed people on the sidewalks, and the whole 
city looks new. 

We drive through one long street after another, our 
carriage on its rubber-tired wheels moving along noise- 
lessly over the asphalt pavements. The streets are wide 
and well kept. There is not a scrap of paper to be seen 
on the roadways, although some of them are still in the 
hands of the cleaners. See those little froys in caps and 
uniforms who are pushing the dirty water toward the 
sewers. They are scrubbing the streets with rubber 
mops, which leave them as clean as a floor. Berlin pays 
a half million dollars a year to keep its streets free from 
dirt, and a large part of the work is done by boys who 
receive twenty-five cents a day. 

How orderly everything is ! The Germans are noted for 
doing things methodically. The whole country moves like 
a machine. The police are on hand everywhere to enforce 
the laws, and there are so many policemen that we are 
seldom out of their sight. The moment we arrived at 
our hotel, we were given a paper upon which we had to 
set down just who we were, what our business or profession 
was, and whether we should stay long in the city or not. 
The government rules are such that the officials know 
where each man in Prussia sleeps every night. 

When we came out this morning we found the servants 
cleaning the pavement in front of the hotel. We are told 
that the family on the ground floor has to clean the pave- 
ment in front of the house every morning, and are warned 



BERLIN. 



205 



that if we break a bottle or jug on the street, the police will 
make us pick up the pieces and carry them off. The Berlin 
boys dare not shoot with blowpipes at the birds in the 
trees. In the winter when there is good skating, the 
police put. up green flags to let the children know they 
may skate, and they mark out with red flags the parts 
of the ice they are permitted to use. Companies of chil- 
dren are not allowed to go about alone after dark, and if 
a child makes a noise on the street his parents may be 
punished. 

In Berlin, the police watch even the dogs, and they warn 
you that your dog must not bark on the streets later than 
ten o'clock in the evening. There are also fire police who 
aid in putting out fires, •; .^ . 

and building police who 
see that the mortar and 
rubbish of new buildings 
are kept inside the walls, 
and that no one puts up 
a building or even a busi- 
ness sign unless his plans 
have been approved by 
the officials. The people 
are proud of their city, 
and they will not allow 
anything erected which 
will injure its beauty. 

But what are the little 
towers we see on the 
street corners ! Each is as big around as a 
hogshead, and about fifteen feet high ; it is covered with 
printed matter containing various announcements. Those 
are the advertising stands of the city, which announce 

CARP. EUROPE — 13 




— it is covered with 
printed matter." 



206 GERMANY. 

what is going on at the concert halls and theaters, and 
give all sorts of information valuable to strangers. In one 
section of the tower is a plan of the streets about it, so 
that we can know just where we are. The tower gives 
the location of the nearest police station, hospital, fire 
alarm, and post office. There are also some advertise- 
ments in frames, but nothing ugly or out of place. The 
city authorities will not allow bills to be posted upon the 
walls, and those who advertise must use these towers, or 
hire men to distribute handbills. Such advertising is far 
better than that of the ugly bill boards which so deface 
the streets of our American cities. 

We conclude to get a general idea of Berlin by riding 
about it on the Ringbahn and Stadtbahn. The Ringbahn 
is a steam railroad, which runs around the outskirts of 
the city. The trip shows us what a great place Berlin 
is. The city covers more than twenty-five square miles. 
It lies in and extends beyond the Spree River valley, 
which is here about three miles in width. The country 
about is so sandy and marshy that Berlin was once nick- 
named "The sand box of Europe." 

It is an old city, although it has been growing so fast of 
late years, and has been so much improved, that it now 
looks new. Its oldest part is on an island in the Spree. 
There was a town there several hundred years before 
America was discovered. The Spree River gave the 
people access by the Havel to the water ways of the 
Elbe, and canals were made later by which they could 
get to the Oder. The town was situated just where 
the trade routes to different parts of northern Europe 
crossed, and so the city soon became important. Later 
it was made the capital of Prussia, and it continued to 
grow. Then, in 1870, the Germans had their great war 



BERLIN. 207 

with the French, and conquered them. After this the 
Prussians persuaded the other German states to unite 
with them into one Empire, of which the King of Prussia 
should be the Emperor, and Berlin the Imperial Cap- 
ital. Since then people from all the states of Germany 
have come to Berlin, and it has rapidly increased in 
size, wealth, and importance. It is now, next to Paris, 
the finest capital on the continent of Europe, and its 
people think it will soon be surpassed in size only by the 
city of London. 

We cross many railroads in our ride on the Ringbahn. 
There are hundreds of smokestacks on the outskirts, pour- 
ing their black columns into the sky. They belong to the 
factories of the city. Berlin is perhaps the greatest manu- 
facturing town of continental Europe. It has silk, woolen, 
and cotton mills, it has vast engine factories, and it makes 
beautiful gold and silver ware, fine jewelry, and all sorts of 
fancy goods and notions, as we shall see in the stores when 
we shop. Much of the work is done by the people in their 
homes, and there are hundreds of small factories, as well 
as many large ones. 

The Stadtbahn is an elevated railroad built upon a wall 
of masonry and iron. We cross the Spree three times 
during our ride upon it, and go over bridges which have 
been built above the principal streets. 

We leave the cars not far from the Thiergarten and 
take carriages for a drive through this, the great park of 
Berlin. It contains six hundred acres, and looks like a 
cultivated forest with lakes, little canals, and many beauti- 
ful walks and drives. 

We visit the zoological garden, where we see the keepers 
feed the wild beasts, and in the monkey house see the 
largest collection of monkeys in Europe. 



208 



GERMANY. 



In our drive through the Avenue of Victory, the chief 
promenade of the park, we pass scores of well-dressed 
men and women riding fine horses. There are beautiful 
carriages with coachmen and footmen in livery, and hun- 
dreds of children with their parents or nurses walking 
about or playing near the lakes and under the trees. The 
Germans are fond of nature, and even at daybreak there 
are people in the park. 




Brandenburg Gate. 

On going out we drive by a sandstone column two 
hundred feet tall, with a beautiful gilt statue of Victory on 
top. It was erected in honor of the victories of the Ger- 
mans over the French. We then pass out through the 
Brandenburg Gate into Unter den Linden (oon'ter dan 
lin'den). This gate is a huge stone structure with five 
entrances, one of which is reserved for the king. It has 



BERLIN. 



209 



on its top a magnificent statue of the Goddess of Victory 
riding in a bronze chariot drawn by four bronze horses. 
That statue was captured by Napoleon when he conquered 
the Prussians ; it was taken to Paris, but was brought 
back again after the battle of Waterloo. 









gsT|i: 


i ♦ i 



Unter den Linden. 

We are delighted with Unter den Linden. It is the 
finest street of the city, and one of the famous streets of 
the world. It is as wide as Pennsylvania Avenue in 
Washington, and is about a mile long, extending from the 
Thiergarten to the palaces of the king. It has seven differ- 
ent roadways or paths, some for heavy vehicles, others for 
carriages, some for people on horseback, and others for 
bicycles and pedestrians. 

We ride through it under the trees, admiring the large 
public buildings, going by the statue of Frederick the 



2 16 GERMANY. 

Great and the royal palaces, and then, on turning to the 
right and to the left, making our way through miles of 
other streets walled with magnificent buildings. 

We ride through Friedrich (fred'rich) Street and Leip- 
siger (llp'siker) Street, by many beautiful stores, and go 
on and on, seeing big buildings everywhere. There are 
no little houses in Berlin, such as you see in other cities, 
and no cottages with gardens in front of them, so we 
wonder where the poor live. 

We soon discover when we get out for a walk. Their 
homes are scattered everywhere throughout the city. Very 
few people own the houses they live in. Nearly all hire 
flats or apartments, so that you find the rich, the well-to-do, 
and the poor, in the same house. Each family has its own 
quarters and its own floor, according to what it can pay. 
In all Berlin, it is said, there are only a few thousand 
families who have a whole house to themselves, while a 
multitude have less than six rooms, and vast numbers of 
families live in two or three rooms, and in basements or 
cellars under the ground. 

Let us go into one of the big buildings and see for 
ourselves. The one we enter has six stories, extending 
back from the street ; it is built about several great courts, 
each walled with six tiers of rooms. We first go into the 
cellar like basement. At the front are the shops of a 
butcher, a cobbler, and a grocer, while farther back, each 
living in two or three rooms, are many poor families, the 
most of whom do work at home for a livelihood. On the 
first floor facing the street there are some good stores, not 
unlike our stores at home. There is a restaurant at the 
corner, while in the courts at the back of the building are 
small shops and homes. 

Entering the hall, we climb the stairs to the first story, 



BERLIN. 



211 



and there find a number of well-to-do families, each of 
which has six or more comfortable rooms opening into one 
another. On the floors farther up we find other apart- 
ments, smaller and less elaborately furnished, the homes 
of people who are not so rich as those just below, for the 
rent grows less the higher you go. It is in apartments 




" — going by the statue of Frederick the Great." 

like these that the most of the Berliners live. Often the 
poor work in the same room where they sleep, and many 
families have but one room that can be heated. 

Such buildings in our cities would have hot air furnaces, 
or steam or hot water to heat them. Here the people 
have stoves of porcelain, each so big that it fills one corner 
of the room, reaching from the floor almost to the ceiling. 



212 GERMANY. 

Near the bottom of the stove is a brass door a foot square, 
and inside this an iron door which opens into a little fuel 
chamber. A small amount of coal with some kindling is 
put in ; this will heat the bricks and porcelain, and, once 
hot, the stove gives forth heat the whole day. 

Coming out, we walk through one street after another. 
The most of them are full of people rapidly moving to and 
fro. There are men and women of all classes, rich and 
poor, old and young. Here come some students from the 
university, and behind them boys with bags of books re- 
turning from school. On the corners are messengers in 
caps and uniforms, ready to take bundles or notes for any 
one at a few cents a trip. There are women and men 
carrying baskets and boxes in their arms and on their backs, 
and business men and mechanics rapidly moving along. 

What is that black-faced little boy coming toward us ? 
He has a pole over his shoulder to which a long brush is 
attached, and he carries a short brush in his hands. He 
does not look like a negro. No, he is a German boy, and 
his business is sweeping out chimneys. There are hun- 
dreds of chimney sweeps in Berlin, boys and men who go 
down into the chimneys and clean them out once a year. 

Be careful in crossing the streets. They are full of 
vehicles of every description. There are automobiles 
moved by steam and electricity. There are many street 
cars ; there are carriages of all kinds, and wagons and 
carts. There are great drays dragged along by horses, and 
little wagons hauled by dogs. There is a dog now pulling 
a load of fresh meat through the street. He looks very 
hungry, and we wonder why he does not turn about and 
take a good meal, until we see the wire muzzle inclosing 
his head. All dogs must have muzzles, or they will be 
taken up by the police or the dog catchers. 



BERLIN. 



213 



Get out of the way of that carriage ! Don't you hear 
the driver hissing at you ? That is the way you are warned 
to look out in Berlin. If you allow yourself to be run 
over, you may be arrested and fined, for every person on 
foot is expected to take care of himself. 




Beer Garden. 

What a lot of restaurants, hotels, and cafds there are 
everywhere. We are inclined to think that the chief occu- 
pation of the people of Berlin is eating, till we see the 
thriving general business going on all around us. 

The Germans are fond of good living. There are many 
delicatessen or cook shops, where you can buy cakes and 
pies, sausages, and all kinds of cooked meat to take home. 
There are plenty of restaurants, and at frequent intervals 



214 GERMANY. 

are caf^s where you can have a cup of coffee or chocolate 
or some other liquid. Beer is sold almost everywhere, for 
it is the favorite drink of the Germans. They take it with 
their meals, and also in the beer gardens, where they sit 
about at tables under the trees and drink while they listen 
to the playing of the bands. 

Early one morning we go to the market. It is in an 
enormous building roofed with glass, covering six acres of 
ground. It has five hundred wholesale dealers and com- 
mission merchants and many retailers. The most of the 
small dealers are women who stand behind marble coun- 
ters, loaded with vegetables, dressed fowls, and meats of 
all kinds. What a lot of geese there are ! The Germans 
are so fond of this fowl that Berlin alone consumes two 
millions of them every year. It is no wonder the cab 
drivers hiss, they eat so much goose ! 

There is a woman now bringing in a half dozen geese 
in a basket. She is one of the porters, for the women here 
do such work more cheaply than men. We see them 
everywhere in the market, going about with great baskets 
of meat and vegetables strapped to their backs, or standing 
with their empty baskets waiting to carry provisions home. 

One part of the market is devoted to fish, of which Ber- 
lin eats forty million pounds every month. The people are 
determined to have their fish fresh, and hence buy them 
alive. We walk by one vat after another, watching the fish 
swimming about in the water, and are told we may choose 
any we wish and the fishwife will dip it out with her net. 

We have no difficulty in finding the butter and cheese 
market! We have only to follow our noses and let them 
follow the smell. Most German cheese has a strong odor, 
and some kinds, such as Limburger, scent the whole build- 
ing. The Germans use more cheese than we do, and the 



HOW GERMANY IS GOVERNED. 21 5 

poorer classes eat it as a food rather than as a relish or for 
dessert. The German butter is sweet, and of good flavor. 
Much of it is sold wrapped up in cabbage leaves, the 
golden butter surrounded by green. 



XXIII. THE EMPEROR — HOW GERMANY IS 
GOVERNED. 

WE see the emperor several times during our stay in 
Berlin. He often rides about through the city on 
horseback; he reviews his soldiers in person, and some- 
times drives through the Thiergarten in his imperial 
carriage. He wears the uniform of a general of his army, 
and although he has great dignity, he looks much like other 
men. We are surprised to see how his subjects revere 
and admire him. They speak low when talking about him, 
and when they meet him the men and boys take off their 
hats and the women bow. When he rides or drives out in 
procession, the roofs, balconies, windows, and pavements 
are full of people. The women wave their handkerchiefs, 
the men throw their hats into the air, and all cry out 
Hoch ! Hoch ! Hoch ! which means much the same as 
" Hurrah ! " 

The German emperor is one of the chief rulers of 
Europe. He is known as the Deutscher Kaiser, or Ger- 
man Emperor, and also as the King of Prussia. As Kaiser 
he governs about sixty million people, and he has always 
more than a half million soldiers at his command, while at 
short notice he can put several times this number of men 
into the field. 

The German army has some of the best-trained soldiers 



2l6 GERMANY. 

of the world. We find them drilling almost everywhere in 
and about Berlin. We are awakened in the morning by 
their tramp, tramp, tramp, as they pass our hotel on their 
way from one part of the city to another, and we often see 
regiments of infantry and cavalry in the streets. In the 
drills the companies move like so many machines, and even 
the cavalry horses are taught to take just so many steps to 
the minute. In the maneuvers or sham battles the army 
is divided, and thousands of soldiers fight other thousands 
for practice, using blank cartridges, but otherwise acting 
just as in real war. The Germans are proud of their army, 
and all officials and soldiers are highly respected. As we 
have already learned, every man here must be a soldier 
for a part of his life, and every one must be ready to go 
out and fight if the emperor calls upon him. 

But is it not a dangerous thing for one man to have 
so many soldiers at his command ? It might be if the 
emperor had the ambition of an Alexander the Great or 
a Napoleon Bonaparte and desired to conquer the world. 
We must also remember that the German emperor has not 
absolute power over the army, or over his people. He can 
call out his soldiers at any time to defend the country, if it 
should be invaded ; but he cannot make an offensive war 
without the consent of the upper house of the German 
Parliament. 

We have seen how the United Kingdom, Belgium, Hol- 
land, Denmark, and Norway and Sweden each has its 
king or queen who rules through a congress or parliament 
which votes all the money and makes all the laws ; so that 
these monarchies are very like republics with hereditary 
presidents. It is much the same in the German Empire, 
save that in local matters each state has a king or prince 
of its own. The Kaiser has such a position as king of 



HOW GERMANY IS GOVERNED. 



217 



Prussia, but as emperor he is more like our President, 
having to do only with matters that affect all the states, 
and that only in connection with an Imperial Congress. 

This Congress consists of two houses, the Bundesrat 
(boon'des-rat), which has sixty-one members, appointed by 
the governments of the states for each session, and the 
Reichstag (rlchs'tak), which has three hundred and ninety- 
seven members elected for terms of five years by all the 




"We visit the Reichstag building." 

people of Germany. In both houses there are more 
Prussian representatives than any others, for Prussia has 
by far the most people and is the most powerful of all the 
states. 

We visit the Reichstag building. It is a gorgeous struc- 
ture decorated with statues, carvings, and gold leaf, situated 
close by the Thiergarten. We pass the uniformed guards 
at the entrance and in the halls, and take seats in the 
galleries ; we listen to the members debating, observing 
that Germany has political parties just as we have. The 



2l8 



GERMANY. 



scenes of the Reichstag are much like those of our House 
of Representatives at Washington, while the Bundesrat is 
more like our Senate. 

Afterward we go with our guide to the great palace of the 
emperor, which stands at the head of Unter den Linden, 
on an island surrounded by the two branches into which 
the Spree divides at this point. The building is constructed 




" — the great palace of the emperor.'' 

about four courts ; it is of vast extent, containing six 
hundred different rooms. All the rooms are beautifully 
furnished, and we enjoy seeing the fine statues and paint- 
ings. The ceilings are high, and the floors so polished 
that the palace attendant gives us each a pair of big felt 
slippers to wear over our shoes as we walk through. 

From this palace we go to others near by, after which we 
visit the Zeughaus (zoich' house), or arsenal, full of arms of 



HOW GERMANY IS GOVERNED. 



219 




"We spend some time in the university," 

all kinds, and then go to the great museums and picture- 
galleries for which Berlin is famous. We spend some time 
in the university. It is one of the largest in Germany, 
having over seven thousand students. We visit the other 
schools which are scattered everywhere over the city, 
and learn that the Germans have an excellent school sys- 
tem, and that they are among the best-educated people of 
the world. They have day schools and night schools ; they 
have hundreds of academies and universities, which are 
so good that scholars from all parts of Europe and also 
from our country attend them. In the Royal Library is 
one of the largest book collections in Europe, including 
the first Bible ever printed with movable type. This was 
made by Gutenberg, forty-two years before Columbus dis- 
covered America ; and it might be called the father of the 
millions of books now printed each year. 



220 



GERMANY. 



We next go to the stock exchange, the financial center 
of the empire, and watch the brokers buying and selling 
just as we saw them in the other great cities. The Ger- 
mans are fast growing rich, and they have many large 
banks. They have fine stores everywhere, and in our 
travels through Berlin we find numerous evidences of their 
wealth and prosperity. 




Sans Souci. 



There is no lack of amusements in the German capital. 
There are more than a score of theaters, a large opera 
house partially supported by the government, and so many 
concert halls that we can hear good music in almost every 
block. We enjoy especially the military bands which play 
in the parks. 

We take excursions to the great resorts in the suburbs 
of Berlin, and spend one day at Potsdam on the Havel, a 



HOW GERMANY IS GOVERNED. 



221 



half hour by rail from the capital. Here the imperial 
family have their summer palaces surrounded by beautiful 
gardens. There are many fine buildings, each of which 
has its history and features of interest. In the Palace of 
Sans Souci (saN soose-e), for instance, we are shown the 
chamber, or grotto, walled and ceiled with shells and min- 
erals and precious stones, which Frederick the Great con- 
structed during one of his wars. According to the story 




: - ;.- l&M* 



3EU-; 



Babelsberg. 

of our guide, Frederick had spent almost all his money in 
fighting, and his enemies, thinking he was at the end of 
his resources, were preparing to crush him. Then he 
began to build this gorgeous jewel chamber, pouring 
money into it as though there was no end to his wealth. 
Its extravagance made his enemies think he had all the 
money he needed, and caused them to withdraw from the 
field. 

Not far from Sans Souci is Babelsberg, which was the 
favorite summer home of Kaiser Wilhelm I, who, after 

CARP. EUROPE — 14 



222 GERMANY. 

he defeated the French in 1871, was chosen the first 
German emperor. It is very beautiful, and so plainly 
furnished that it seems more like the home of a rich 
citizen than like the palace of an emperor. 

Wilhelm I was noted for his simplicity and kindness; 
many stories are told of his love for children. He was 
especially fond of flowers. There is one flower which 
grows wild all over northern Germany which is often 
called the Kaiserblume, or the emperor's flower. It is 
like a dandelion in form ; its petals are a bright navy blue. 
We gather great bunches of it as we walk through the 
country, and find it everywhere in the grain fields on the 
outskirts of Berlin. 

A story is told of two peasant children who, having 
heard that the Kaiser loved these flowers, gathered some 
for him, and walked all alone, several miles, into Berlin. 
Here they had much trouble in finding the palace where 
the em^ ^or lived, but at last they succeeded. A guard 
dressed in gorgeous uniform met them at the gate; he 
looked so grand that they supposed he was the emperor, 
and with great trembling told him their errand. He was 
about sending them away unsatisfied, when a plain, kind 
looking old man came out and asked what they wanted. 
At this the guard stepped back, and the little ones again 
told their story. The old man took the bouquet and asked 
them to come in, saying he would present the flowers to 
His Majesty. He gave them seats in a beautiful room; 
a moment later a soldier appeared, and told the children 
that the Kaiser would see them. They then went with 
the soldier into another room which was even more beauti- 
fully furnished, and there they saw the same kind old man 
who had let them in. He held their flowers in one hand, 
and reached out the other to them, shaking hands with 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 223 

them and patting them on the head. It was the emperor 
himself. He talked with the little ones for a moment, and 
ordered his servants to show them the palace. After this 
he gave each a present, and sent them home the happiest 
and proudest children in Germany. 

XXIV. RURAL AND MANUFACTURING 
GERMANY. 

WE have left the capital, and are traveling leisurely 
from place to place by rail through the great Ger- 
man Empire. How clean the stations are, and how orderly 
everything is! The station agents and railroad guards 
are in uniform ; they are public officials, for the railroads 
here belong to the government. They tell us just where 
to go, and just what we may and may not do. We are 
locked in during our journeys, and must be at c stations 
a quarter of an hour before leaving time, or v. ait for the 
next train. When we stop at a town, the officials give us 
a metal ticket bearing a number showing us just what cab 
we may take. 

Every station has its first, second, and third class wait- 
ing-rooms, each with its restaurant ; and there are first and 
second, and sometimes third and fourth class cars. The 
fourth class cars are very uncomfortable, for the seats are 
hard wooden benches. We usually ride second class, for 
we wish to be with the people, and they are so economical 
that they seldom go first class. 

We visit Breslau, the second city of Prussia, the great 
wool and grain market on the Oder, and then cross over 
to Saxony and spend some time in Dresden on the Elbe, 
and in Leipsig and Chemnitz. 



224 GERMANY. 

What a busy country Germany is, and how thrifty ! The 
most of the farms are small, but they are kept like gar- 
dens. There are no fences, and we ride for miles over flat 
plains which, with their different-colored crops, look like 
a great patchwork quilt spread out before us. The barn- 
yards have many fat cattle ; they are usually kept shut 
up and the grass is cut and brought to them. We fre- 
quently see flocks of sheep and geese, watched by a 
woman, who knits as she keeps them from straying. 

Now we are passing a smooth white road lined with 
trees; the rows seem to meet in the distance as the road 
stretches on and on. There is a woman with a flag guard- 
ing the railroad track while the train passes. Now we are 
going by a farm village close to the railroad. The houses 
are of brick or stucco, with roofs of red tile or gray thatch, 
and with great rafters or beams set into the walls. The 
houses are built close to the street, with gardens behind 
them. The people do not live on their farms, but in these 
little villages, and go out to their work. 

Observe how carefully the farming is done ! There are 
many fields of wheat and rye, and many of beets, for 
beet sugar is one of the chief exports of Germany. The 
beets are hoed frequently and are kept perfectly free of 
weeds. They are cut up and boiled in steam reservoirs to 
get out the sugar, which is shipped to the markets all 
over the world. 

What a lot of women there are at work in the fields ! So 
many of the men are in the army that the women and 
girls do all sorts of hard labor. In some fields there are 
more women than men. We see them hoeing and spad- 
ing. They aid in the harvesting, turning the grass with 
pitchforks that it may dry the more quickly; they rake it 
together and even help load it. 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 



225 




"They do much of the carting, too." 

They do much of the carting, too. For instance, in 
one of the smaller cities through which we pass we see 
a woman driving a yoke of oxen. They are drawing a 
farm wagon loaded with beets grown on a farm several 
miles away. 

In Bavaria one may see women sawing wood or break- 
ing stones on the streets of the cities. They sometimes 
carry mortar for the masons, and also drag about little 
carts loaded with milk or vegetables, aiding the dogs which 
are harnessed up with them. They receive lower wages 
than the men, although they work very hard. 



226 



GERMANY. 



We are delighted with Dresden. It is the capital of the 
kingdom of Saxony, and is one of the finest cities of 
Europe. The city seems one great museum, there are 
so many statues, fine buildings, and collections of curiosi- 
ties and art. Even the palace of the king has a museum 
in it, and a very wonderful museum too. It is the treasure 




"We are delighted with Dresden." 

chamber of the royal family, and is called the Green 
Vault. It is filled with curiosities and jewels, with gold 
and silver plate, and with wonderful carvings of gold, 
silver, and ivory. We walk through room after room, 
looking at the golden dishes and precious cups and vases. 
We see all sorts of queer little figures of men and animals 
made of misshapen pearls, and stay long before the Green 
Diamond, which weighs five and one-half ounces and is 
one of the largest diamonds known. In the Dresden 
Picture Gallery we are shown one of the finest collections 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 



227 



of paintings, including the Sistine Madonna of Raphael, 
considered by many to be the most beautiful picture ever 
painted. 

We visit the Historical Museum, the Japanese Palace, 
and other such places, until we are tired of paintings and 
statues, and are glad to get out among the people in the 
Grosser Garten, the royal park of the city, or to sit down 
for a drink of lemonade upon the Briihl Terrace, which 
borders the Elbe, where every evening there are hundreds 




Museum, Leipsig. 

of people walking about or sitting at the tables under the 
trees, listening to the music for which the Germans are 
famous. 

A short ride from Dresden brings us to Leipsig, the chief 
commercial city of Saxony. It is situated on a plain, at 
the junction of several rivers, so that it forms one of the 
best supply and shipping points for the manufacturing 
districts of Saxony. 



228 GERMAxMY. 

Leipsig has many factories, and it is also the greatest 
book publishing town of the world. It has five hundred 
booksellers and one hundred printing offices, in which are 
made more than sixty million books every year. It holds 
book fairs which are attended by booksellers from all over 
Germany. It is a great educational center and its' univer- 
sity has one thousand students. It has fairs at which furs, 
leather, cloth, glass, and other things, are sold, and also has 
long been noted as a leather market. 

We have seen many factories during our travels through 
Germany. Each district has its manufacturing towns, and 
the country fairly hums with moving machinery. Saxony 
is more like the Midlands of England than any part of the 
European continent. The country is more thickly settled 
than almost any place in the world except some provinces 
of China, and it is doubtful whether any part of China 
has more people to the acre than this region where we 
now are. 

Why is this so ? We have learned that such conditions 
always have their geographical reasons ; and it is not hard 
for us to see some of the reasons for the dense population 
and vast industries of Saxony. In the southern part of 
the kingdom are the Erzgebirge, or ore mountains, filled 
with minerals. There are large coal fields near by, so that 
manufacturing can be done very cheaply. Saxony is noted 
for its sheep and fine wool, and great woolen mills have 
grown up here which are shipping goods to all parts of 
Europe and to the United States. Any of our dry goods 
merchants can tell you something about this wool, and 
many American girls use the beautiful Saxony yarns for 
crocheting and knitting. 

The city of Chemnitz, southeast of Leipsig, has been 
called the Manchester of Germany. It makes about as 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 229 

many things as Manchester, England, and is almost as 
busy. We visit the great factories there and in the vil- 
lages near by. Each of the villages is made up of some 
large workshops, with the plain simple houses of the 
working people about them. 

As we go on with our trip, we are surprised at the many 
goods of all kinds which are made outside the factories. 
In some parts of Germany it is hard to find a house in 
which the people are not making something for sale. We 
saw thousands of workshops in the cellars of Berlin ; there 
were thousands of little workshops in Leipsig and Breslau ; 
and we have found vast numbers in the smaller towns and 
villages. 

In some houses the people are weaving the most beauti- 
ful silks, velvets, and plushes on hand looms. In others 
they are making woolens and linens in the same way. 
Here they are knitting stockings, there making clothing, 
while a little farther on we find them busy pounding out 
nails and carving beautiful things from wood. 

The work goes on in the mountains as well as on the 
plains. In the Thuringian Forest, for instance, there are 
thousands of men, women, and children who are always 
making toys, and it is the same in and about the quaint old 
city of Nuremberg, Bavaria. Germany sells more toys 
than any other country, and many of those we see being 
made will be shipped to the United States in time for the 
next Christmas trade. 

The toy makers live in mean little houses. Many of 
them have but two rooms, and the air within is filled with 
the smell of the fresh paint of the toys which are drying 
on boards laid on the stove. You would not think beauti- 
ful things could come out of such places, and it really seems 
hard that these people should labor so for our pleasure. 



23O GERMANY. 

They receive very low wages. The girls working on toys 
get less than twenty cents a day, and the men making 
mouth organs less than three dollars a week. In the large 
establishments the wages are higher. 

But suppose we enter one of the factories, and see how 
they make the doll babies which so delight the souls of 
our little sisters at home. We first visit the rooms where 
cheap wax dolls are made. The bodies of the dolls are of 
coarse white cloth stuffed with sawdust, and their heads, 
arms, and legs are of papier-mache" coated with wax. 
The different parts of the dolls are made in different 
houses, and many hands are engaged on each doll. Cer- 
tain workmen cut the arms and legs out of wood or mold 
them and the heads out of papier-mache. Others dip the 
arms and legs into basins of pink dye to give them a flesh 
color, while others paint the eyebrows, lips, and hair on 
the heads; or if the dolls are to have something better 
than painted hair, mohair is glued on. There are other 
workmen who make dolls' eyes from glass tubes that they 
melt over gas flames and then blow into shape. They also 
fasten the eyes in the heads. So you see a doll baby that 
costs only twenty-five cents requires the work of many 
people before it is finished and dressed in its coarse cotton 
chemise ready for sale. 

The fine dolls require a great deal more work. Many 
of them have bisque heads made of kaolin, a fine clay, 
which is molded into shape and then burned, just as we 
saw them burning china at Limoges in France and in 
Delft, Holland. After this the dolls' heads are painted 
and then burned again. The making of the wigs for some 
dolls is a fine art ; human hair is sometimes used in them ; 
and dressing dolls is also an art which keeps thousands of 
women and girls busy year in and year out 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 2$t 

How would you like to take a canary bird home to re- 
mind you of your travels in Germany? In the Harz 
Mountains and about Hanover there are thousands of 
people who raise canaries for sale. Nearly every little 
house has cages hung to the walls of its sitting room, bed- 
room or garret, and each cage has one or more of these 
beautiful birds. 

In some of the cages the canaries are sitting, hatching 
their young. These cages have the floor covered with dried 
moss, of which the female bird shapes her nest, lining it 
with cotton or lint. She insists on making it for herself, 
and if a ready-made nest is supplied, will build another, 
sometimes tearing out her own feathers to build it. She 
lays from four to six eggs three or four times a year. It 
takes about two weeks for the eggs to hatch, and it is six 
weeks more before the little canary chicks are old enough 
to leave their mothers and have separate cages. 

The birds are encouraged to sing by being placed near 
older birds which sing well. In the autumn, they are sold 
to bird merchants who ship them to all parts of the world. 
About one quarter of a million birds are raised in this way 
here every year, and of these many thousands are sent to 
the United States to be sold. The best singers come from 
the Harz Mountains, and bring high prices, but ordinary 
birds sell for seventy-five cents or a dollar apiece. 

The birds are shipped in cages to New York, with care- 
ful attendants who see that they are watered and fed every 
day. One man has charge of about a thousand birds, each 
in its own little wooden cage, so that he has plenty to do 
during the voyage. The cages are made by the peasants 
in their homes ; and the birds are raised chiefly by poor 
weavers or miners, who rely on them for a part of their 
support. 



232 



GERMANY. 



The Harz Mountains are one of the chief mining dis 
tricts of Germany. They contain all sorts of ores, and 
there are other regions, such as the Erzgebirge, the 
Thuringian, along the Rhine, in the valley of the Ruhr, 
and in Silesia, where coal, iron, and zinc, and other metals 




Salt Works, Kreuznach, Prussia. 

are found. There is one district in Prussia, not far from 
the Elbe, which contains wonderful salt mines. Here there 
are great beds of almost pure rock salt with potash salts 
above them. The potash salts are used for making soap, 
glass, pottery, and gunpowder. They are also used, under 
the name of kainit, as a fertilizer, and as such are shipped 



RURAL AND MANUFACTURING GERMANY. 233 

in vast quantities to the United States to be sold to our 
farmers. 

And so we go on traveling about from one part of 
Germany to another. We visit Hanover, Halle, Nurem- 
berg, Magdeburg, and many other large cities, stopping 
now and then in the busy manufacturing districts and 
other interesting places. At Meissen, near Dresden, we 
learn how the famous Dresden china is made ; in Krefeld, 
on the west of the Rhine, we see looms weaving silks and 
velvets almost as fine as those of Lyons; and at Essen, 
on the east of that river, we visit the vast works of Krupp, 
where are hundreds of acres of iron foundries and rolling 
mills, with a forest of smokestacks filling the sky with dark 
clouds. We go through the shops. They are the largest 
of their kind in Europe, and have all sorts of .machinery, 
some so fine that a single hammer weighing fifty tons is 
said to have cost a half million dollars. 

Everywhere we travel in Germany we find schools for 
teaching the more important branches of the manufactur- 
ing industries. In some towns the students learn how to 
make porcelain, in others they design patterns for weaving, 
and in others study all about working in wood, iron, and 
steel. There are business schools, farming schools, mining 
schools, and schools for educating boys in commerce and 
trade. 

Most of the schools have night sessions, and many of 
the mechanics attend them. These are very important to 
the country, for through them the Germans are fast becom- 
ing the most intelligent and most skilled workmen of 
Europe. They already rank next to the English as the 
chief of the European manufacturing nations. Their com- 
merce is steadily increasing, and they are fast growing in 
industry and wealth. 



234 



GERMANY. 



XXV. UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 

TO-DAY we are to take a trip up the Rhine. It is 
one of the most important rivers of Europe, although 
by no means the largest. The Danube is more than twice 
as long, and the Volga about three times as long, as the 

Rhine, and their vol- 
umes are very much 
greater. 

Still, the Rhine is 
more important than 
either of these 
streams, for it flows 
through the busiest 
part of the continent, 
forming a great com- 




a trip up the Rhine." 



mercial highway from the south to the north. Its springs 
are found in the glaciers and snows of the Alps. It rises 
on one side of Saint Gothard (got'ard), near the source 
of the Rhone and not far from the tunnel where the rail- 
road goes through to Italy, about a mile and a half above 
the level of the sea. It is fed by many an ice-cold, milk- 
white glacial stream as it dashes along down the Alps 
into the beautiful Lake Constance. It comes out of this 
placid bed only to take another tumble at Schaffhausen 
(shaf-how'zen) over the greatest falls of Europe, and then 
flows on west to Basel (ba'zel), where it turns to the north 
and gives a safe and deep waterway to the North Sea. 

The Rhine carries a large part of the commerce of this 
region. Hundreds of steamers and five or six thousand 
great barges are always moving up and down its waters, 
and the traffic uppn it is almost as great as upon the rivers 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 235 

of China. There are boats carrying wine, grain, and mer- 
chandise of all kinds ; boats loaded with freight which will 
be transferred to the railroads to go over the Alps into 
Italy ; and others filled with merchandise from the Mediter- 
ranean, and other places beyond the mountains. There 
are rafts of timber cut from the Black Forest floating 
down toward Holland, and it may be manufactured goods 
on their way to New York by way of the Rhine and the 
ocean. 

The Rhine has had much to do with the history of 
Europe. Before railroads were constructed, it was even 
more important than now, for it then formed the easiest 
road from Italy and the south to central and northern 
Europe. Silks and other fine goods from Asia were 
shipped across the Mediterranean Sea and along the Adri- 
atic Sea to Venice, whence they were carried over the 
passes in the Alps to the Rhine, and thence to different 
parts of northern Europe, and especially to the rich cities 
in Holland and Belgium about its mouths. Goods from 
the north were sent back in exchange, and a steady stream 
of merchandise and traders passed up and down. 

Even in the times of the Romans the Rhine had its 
important cities and towns. Caesar led his soldiers along 
its banks ; Charlemagne, another great conqueror, fought 
many battles near it; and Napoleon Bonaparte marched 
his armies back and forth across it. There is hardly a 
foot of the Rhine which has not its notable history, and 
every town and castle we pass, if it could speak, might 
tell an interesting story. 

At present the greater part of the river belongs to 
Germany, only its beginning and ending being in other 
countries. It forms a part of the boundary between 
Switzerland and Germany; and until the Germans con- 



236 GERMANY. 

quered the French in 1870, it was the boundary between 
Germany and France. After that conquest the Germans 
moved their boundary line farther west, so that now France 
has no land on the Rhine. The Germans are proud of this 
fact, and they always speak of the Rhine as their river 
and often call it " Father Rhine." 

As we look at the map of Europe, however, it seems to 
us that Holland has a better right to boast of its inherit- 
ance from the Rhine, for that low country was largely 
built up by the earth washings brought down by its 
waters, and it is still fed by them. We saw one mouth 
of the Rhine at Rotterdam, where it is walled in between 
its embankments, and another where it flows into the 
Zuider Zee. 

Our journey begins at Cologne (co-Ion '), on the west 
bank of the river. This is the chief commercial city of the 
Rhine basin, and one of the most important cities of Ger- 
many. It is about as large as Pittsburg, and has many 
manufacturing industries. It is an old city. Like Lubeck 
and Hamburg, it was one of the chief towns of the Han- 
seatic League, and it had at one time during the Middle 
Ages as many as eighty thousand weavers. Owing to the 
trade of the Rhine and the looms, its people were then so 
rich that their neighbors, instead of saying a man was as 
rich as Midas, would say he was as rich as a cloth mer- 
chant of Cologne. 

We take a view of the city from the spires of the cathe- 
dral, climbing round and round, up the steps, inside one 
of the towers, until we are at last far above the body of 
the great structure, and on one of the highest towers of 
the world. The top of the spires above us are five hun- 
dred and twelve feet above the ground, only forty-three 
feet lower than the top of the monument at Washington. 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 



237 




"Our journey begins at Cologne." 



From the spire we can see the Rhine winding its way 
about the city, which stretches out over the plain at the 
back. We cast our eyes down upon the great building 
below us. It is one of the largest and finest of the Euro- 
pean churches. It covers almost two acres of ground, and 
has cost almost as much as our Capitol at Washington. 
It was begun in the Middle Ages, but was not completed 
until 1883, when the great bells in the towers were rung 
for hours in honor of the event. We look at the bells as 
we go down. One of them is so large that it takes more 
than a score of men to ring it. It is called the emperor's 
bell, as we see from the German words carved on the out- 
side, which translated are as follows : — 

" I am the emperor's bell, 
The emperor's praise I tell ; 
carp. Europe — 15 



238 GERMANY. 

On holy guard I stand, 
And for this German land, 
Beseech that God may please 
To grant it peace and ease." 

We leave the church, to do a little shopping before we 
go on our steamer. Can you guess what we buy first? 
Think where we are and you will guess right. We lay in 
a good stock of cologne. It is in Cologne that this well- 
known perfumery is made, and we find it exceedingly 
cheap. It is sold in many stores near the cathedral, and 
we are told there are at least forty different merchants, 
each of whom claims he has the only pure article, and he 
will sprinkle a little on your clothes or on your handker- 
chief to prove it. 

We are clothed in an atmosphere of perfumes from such 
attempts to induce us to purchase, as we leave the stores 
and walk down to the Rhine, where we stroll about the 
quays watching the shipping. We go back and forth over 
the great bridge of boats which here crosses the river, 
and watch the boys who are fishing, as we wait for the 
leaving time of the steamer. The bridge is made of 
anchored barges on which planks are laid. It rises and 
falls with the water, and is so constructed that sections of 
it can be taken out to let the ships through. 

Soon our baggage arrives. We go on the boat and see 
it stowed away in the cabins, and then take seats on the 
upper deck, and enjoy the busy sights all about us. There, 
the whistle is blowing, the bell has rung for all who are 
not going to get off, the gang plank is pulled away, and 
we are steaming off up the Rhine ! 

We soon leave the city, and after a time can distinguish 
only the tall spires of its cathedral cutting the sky. How 
fresh the air is and how beautiful the scenery ! The river 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 



239 



has grown narrower, and we are coming into a region of 
hills. We wind in and out, now frowned down upon by- 
great rocks, and now by low mountains which seem high 
because of their steepness. 

What is that odd building on the top of that hill at the 
left ? It is a vast stone structure with a square tower and 
queer little windows, some of which seem to have iron bars. 
A part of it has fallen down, and it does not look as though 
any one lived in it now. That is a castle. It was built 
five hundred years ago and was once the home of a 
baron or knight who, 
with his soldiers, 
lived there, and made 
the poor people 
round about give him 
support. There is a 
similar ruin on that 
rock at the left, and 
as we go on we see 
scores of such cas- 
tles. They were the 
homes of the barons 
of the Middle Ages, 
many of whom were 
robbers, who oppressed the people, and preyed upon the 
merchants who traveled up and down the Rhine. 

The history of this region is full of their extortions and 
cruelties, although many of the tales told are not true. Al- 
most every hill along the Rhine has its wonderful story. 
In some, they say, dragons lived and good and bad fairies 
had their homes. In the Drachenfels (drach'en-felz), a 
great rock on the Rhine, there was, it is said, a dragon who 
killed and ate people, being, I suppose, especially fond of 




— we see ' -*-,_ 
scores of such _i; "■- 
castles." 



240 GERMANY. 

children. He was finally conquered by Siegfried, a German 
hero. When the dragon died his blood soaked the ground, 
and as the region thereabout now produces excellent 
grapes, the people call the wine made from them, dragon's 
blood. 

We see vineyards everywhere as we steam on up the 
river. Both banks are lined with them. Every little 
white cottage has grapevines about it, and there are many 
large vineyards. The hills are terraced, and the mountain 
sides are made up of green steps, each step filled with 
grapevines tied to stakes. Some places are so steep that 
the earth is held in with stone walls, and much of it was 
carried up from below in baskets on the backs of women 
and men. 

We see men, women, and children at work among the 
vines. They are hoeing and weeding them. In the autumn 
the fruit will be ripe, and then all will be picking grapes 
from daylight to dark, and carrying them off to the wine 
presses. The grapes are first tramped to a pulp with the 
feet, and then the juice is squeezed out. Much of the 
pressing is done after dark, and, as it is thought disgrace- 
ful to lie in bed after sunrise, the peasants have a rather 
hard time at grape harvest. 

Still, they seem to enjoy themselves. We hear the boys 
and girls singing as they work. They have parties and 
dances. In the winter, in some of the villages of these 
regions, the girls hold spinning bees, when they meet 
together and spin yarn in the daytime ; in the evening, 
when the boys come, they have a supper and dance. 
They are good people and one of their sayings is : " A 
man who does not go to church is no better than other 
cattle ; " and another is : " He is a bad man who can 
relish his sauerkraut without a sermon ! " 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 24 1 

Wages are very low in the Rhine Valley, and the poor 
people live plainly. Many of them eat only a little gruel 
and dry bread for breakfast ; they have plenty of milk and 
eggs, but little meat. They have many potatoes, making 
all sorts of dishes of them, including soup, pancakes, and 
dumplings. 

The steamer stops some time at Coblenz, near which is 
the great rock fortress of Ehrenbreitstein (a-ren-brlt'stin), 
called the Gibraltar of the Rhine. The rock is four hun- 
dred feet above the level of the river, and the fortress upon 
it can accommodate one hundred thousand soldiers, although 
only five thousand are stationed in it. It is the chief of the 
many fortresses of the Rhine Valley, and has been used as 
a military stronghold for about one hundred years. 

We are delighted with Coblenz. It is a fine old city, 
dating back to the time of the Romans, situated at the 
joining of the river Moselle with the Rhine. It has a 
bridge of boats, much like that at Cologne, and many 
quaint old buildings. Among other curious things is the 
clock in the old Merchants' Hall, which has an odd 
figure under it. This is a man with a hideous face, whose 
goggle eyes roll with every move of the pendulum, and 
whose great mouth opens when the clock strikes the hour. 
It is known as " The man in the customhouse," and it is 
said that when a man from the country meets one from 
Coblenz, he does not ask him how are all the good people 
of Coblenz, but says : " How is the man in the custom- 
house ? " 

Leaving Coblenz, we steam on up the Rhine, winding 
our way through the hills, by many towns and villages, past 
numerous castles, until we come to a place where the river 
narrows and seethes and foams as it dashes by the Lorelei 
rock. The rock has a peculiar echo, and there is a story 



242 



GERMANY. 



that it was once the home of a wicked maiden, who sat 
there combing her golden hair and singing. She was very 
beautiful, and her song was so sweet that the boatmen for- 
got to manage their boats as they listened, and she lured 
them on and on until they were dashed to pieces against 
the rock. 

The echo from the rock is so strong that it repeats many 
times whatever we shout at it. Opposite it, but a little 
farther up stream, under a great ruined castle, is the town 
of Oberwesel (o'ber-va/zel), whose boys are said to amuse 
themselves by crying out to the echo rock, " Who is the 

mayor of Oberwe- 
sel," in such a way 
that only the last 
two syllables are 
heard, and the cry 
comes back, " Esel, 
Esel," a word which 
means donkey in 
German. Whether 
the mayor feels in- 
sulted thereby we 
have not time to 
learn. 

But what is that 
weird-looking figure 
that stands on the 

v— 

hill in the distance ? 
"It was put up by the Germans." jj- j s a gip;antic 

woman, whose hand seems raised as though she were com- 
manding the world. Perhaps it is really a giantess, and 
these fairy stories of the Rhine are true after all. Now 
we have come closer. It is a giantess indeed. It is a 




UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 



.243 



statue as tall as a three-story house, standing on a pedestal 
eighty feet high. It was put up by the Germans to com- 
memorate their victories over the French in 1870. It cost 
two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and is the 
greatest national monument in Europe. 




Maus Tower. 

That little town opposite the monument is Bingen, "Fair 
Bingen on the Rhine ! " and that tower on this side of it 
on a rocky island in the river is the Maus Tower, where, 
according to one story, the cruel Bishop Hatto was eaten 
alive by rats. You may read about it in Southey's poem. 

Bishop Hatto was very rich and his granaries were full 
of corn, although the people about him were starving. 
One day he sent out word to the peasants that, if they 
would come into his great barn, he would give them 



244, 



GERiMANY. 



enough food for the winter. They came in crowds, men, 
women, and children, thronging in with their bags, until 
the barn was packed with them. 

"Then when he saw it could hold no more, 
Bishop Hatto made fast the door, 
And while for mercy on Christ they call, 
He set fire to the barn and burnt them all. 

" < In faith, 'tis an excellent bonfire,' quoth he, 
' And the country is greatly obliged to me 
For ridding it in these times forlorn, 
Of rats that only consume the corn.' " 

The poem then tells how the bishop returned home, ate 
his supper, and went to sleep. When he awoke in the 
morning, one of his servants told him that the rats had 
eaten all his corn, and another soon came and said that an 
army of ten thousand rats was on its way to eat him up on 
account of his cruelty to the people. Thereupon he went 
to this tower on a rock in the Rhine, and locked himself 
in. But the rats swam across the river and stormed the 
tower. 

" In at the windows and in at the doors, 
And through the walls by thousands they poured, 
And down through the ceiling and up through the floor, 
From the right and the left, behind and before, 
From within and without, from above and below, 
And all at once at the bishop they go. 

" They have whetted their teeth against the stones, 
And now they pick the bishop's bones, 
They gnawed the flesh from every limb, 
For they were sent to do justice on him." 

This story is interesting, but every one knows it is not 
true. The tower was really a watch tower erected in the 
Middle Ages, and its name comes from a German word 
which means to steal. 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 



245 



A little later on we reach Mainz, opposite the point 
where the Main flows into the Rhine. Here we leave the 
boat and take a walk through the town. We visit the 
ruins of a Roman tower, supposed to have been erected 
more than nineteen hundred years ago. We go to the 
house where Gutenberg, the first printer, was born, and 
then take the railroad for Frankfurt near by. 




Jewish Quarter, Frankfurt. 

Here we stroll along the river Main, watching the great 
rafts of timber which are floating down to the city. We 
walk on the Ziel, the chief street, and look at the shops. 
We visit the great red sandstone cathedral, and then go to 
the stock exchange, for Frankfurt is one of the chief busi- 
ness cities of Germany. It was for years one of the richest 
cities of Europe, and its bankers have often loaned money 
to kings. 



zafi 



GERMANY. 



One of the dirtiest parts of the town is the Jewish quar- 
ter, where, not far from the stores of old clothes merchants, 
we are shown the house of the first of the Rothschilds, 
who are now one of the richest families of the world. 
They have their great banking houses in London, Paris, 
and Vienna, and control hundreds of millions of dollars. 




Heidelberg Castle. 

We go to see the Gutenberg monument in Horse Mar- 
ket Square, and then take a train for Strassburg, visiting 
the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg on the way. 
Mannheim is a manufacturing center situated on the right 
bank of the Rhine, opposite the mouth of the Neckar, and 
Heidelberg, only a few miles off, is the seat of a famous 
university, and one of the most beautiful places in Ger- 
many. 



UP THE RHINE TO SWITZERLAND. 247 

It lies on the Neckar, with a great castle on the hills 
just above it. We visit the castle, climbing about its ivy- 
clad ruins. We go down into the dungeon where the 
prisoners were kept in times past, and in the cellar are 
shown what is perhaps the biggest barrel ever made. It 
is known as the Heidelberg tun, and it will hold eight 
hundred hogsheads, or more than two hundred and eighty 
thousand bottles of wine. It has been filled only three 
times in one hundred years. 

We spend some time strolling about Heidelberg. How 
queer the students look, and how many of them have 
scars and strips of court-plaster on their faces. We are 
told the plaster is to cure the cuts received in the duels 
which they fight with one another, using sharp two-edged 
swords and stopping only when the first blood is drawn. 
A student is very proud of his scars, and he walks like a 
king if he has two or three cuts covered with plaster. 
The university is one of the oldest and largest in Ger- 
many. 

A short ride on the railroad brings us back to the Rhine, 
and we are soon at Strassburg, another important center 
of commerce and trade. It lies two miles from the Rhine, 
with which it is connected by canals. Strassburg was 
founded by the Romans, and in the middle ages was one 
of the most prosperous of the free German cities. The 
French obtained possession of it in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, but in the war of 1870 the Germans recaptured it, 
and it is now one of the military centers of their empire. 

Strassburg is especially noted for its cathedral and the 
great clock within it. This clock is a wonder of mechanical 
ingenuity. Every fifteen minutes a figure of an angel comes 
out of it and strikes the quarter with a bell, while every 
hour is struck by a skeleton which appears higher up. Be- 



248 



GERMANY. 



side the angel is a figure which turns the sand glass every 
hour, and about the skeleton are four other figures repre- 
senting boyhood, youth, manhood, and old age. In the 
gallery below these stands a figure by which you can 
tell the day of the week, for a different one appears every 
day. The most interesting scene, however, is at noon, the 
time of our visit, when figures representing the twelve 
apostles come out above the other figures, and ■ march 
around an image of the Savior, while a cock on the pin- 
nacle of a side tower flaps its wings, stretches its neck, and 

crows so loudly that 
the noise penetrates 
every portion of the 
great building. 

We leave Strass- 
burg by railroad, 
and ride along the 
banks of the river 
to Basel in Switzer- 
land, where we end 
our Rhine journey. 
The river has still 
much shipping, not- 
withstanding a vast 
traffic of passen- 
gers and freight 
is carried by rail. 
We are greatly im- 
pressed with the 

Cathedral, Strassburg. 7 , 

importance of the 
Rhine as a trade route, and have learned that it is one 
of the most useful as well as the most beautiful of the 
commercial highways of Europe. 








7 Longitude East 8 from Greenwich 



XXVI. SWITZERLAND — THE ALPS. 

PUT on your rough clothes this morning, and leave 
your heavy baggage behind. We are about to ex- 
plore some of the mountainous parts of Switzerland, 
and much of our travel must be upon foot. Each must 
carry his own knapsack, and the sensible ones will take 
just as little as possible. A waterproof, an extra, suit of 
underclothing, some handkerchiefs and woolen stockings, 
together with the necessary articles of everyday toilet, will 
be quite enough. We shall each take an alpenstock, a 
strong pole with a sharp steel point on its end to aid us in 
climbing and in walking over the ice, and also smoked 
glasses to shield our eyes from the glare of the snow. 
Our guides will bring along ropes to tie us to them while 
passing over the dangerous places, and ice axes to cut 
steps into the walls of the glaciers and up the ice banks of 
the mountains. 



249 



250 



SWITZERLAND. 



Switzerland is the most mountainous country of Europe. 
It contains the highest ranges of the Alps. It has 
several peaks almost three miles in height, and many which 
are clad with perpetual snow. It has hundreds of great 
glaciers or ice streams, which fill the mountain valleys and 
extend down into the green pastures and forests below. 




" Each must carry his own knapsack." 

It is not a large country. Altogether it has only about 
twice as much land as Massachusetts, and one third of it 
is ice and bare rocks. Another third is covered with 
forest, but here and there in the woods, in the valleys, and 
even high up in the mountains, there are good pastures. 
There are many small farms and rich vineyards, and in all 
about one ninth of the whole can be cultivated. 

This is not a great deal, but nevertheless Switzerland 
is one of the most important countries of Europe. The 



THE ALPS. 251 

snow-clad mountains condense into rain the moisture of 
the winds which roar about them, and thus become the 
cradles of some of the greatest of the European rivers. 
Upon one slope of Saint Gothard the Rhine has its begin- 
ning in a little brook so narrow that we leap over it with 
our alpenstocks, and a few miles to the west on the same 
mountain, so near that we walk from one place to the 
other, is the great glacier out of which pours the Rhone. 
To the east are the first springs of the Danube, which 
forms a vast trade route through Southern Europe to the 
Black Sea ; and down the other side of the mountains 
flows the Ticino, the chief feeder of the Po, the principal 
river of Italy. These streams and others from the Alps 
water a vast territory; they have much to do in making 
Europe the richest of the continents, and they are entirely 
dependent on the mountains we are climbing. 

Could we rise high above Switzerland in a balloon and 
look down upon it, we should see that the Central Alps 
and the Jura with some highlands between them comprise 
the whole country. We should see that the Alps rise 
from the plateau, in several ranges ; and that they have 
many cross valleys ; but that Saint Gothard at the center 
is the chief dividing mass, with the great trench or valley 
of the Rhine running down one side of it to the north- 
east and the valley of the Rhone down the other to 
the southwest. As our balloon sank down and hovered 
over the snow masses, we should see that the mountains 
are cut up into all sorts of strange shapes. There are 
deep gorges with rocky walls half covered with green, 
beautiful lakes surrounded by snowy peaks which mirror 
themselves in the waters; there are silvery cascades, 
emerald meadows, and level uplands spotted with flowers, 
and indeed so much beautiful scenery that people come 



252 SWITZERLAND. 

from all over the world to enjoy it and the life-giving air 
of the mountains. So many thousand tourists come that 
Switzerland is called the playground of Europe. There 
are hotels everywhere, and even on the tops of Mount 
Rigi, and several others of the highest Alps, we can find 
comfortable quarters. 

The tourists spend so many millions of dollars in Switzer- 
land every year that the people have made good roads to 
all the principal places and have built many hotels. They 
have constructed roads over the passes, and long tunnels 
through Mount Saint Gothard and others of the Alps, to 
carry people and merchandise by railroad to and from Italy. 
These tunnels and their railroads bring the Mediterranean 
and the North Sea within several days of each other, 
whereas before they were constructed the most of the 
goods were carried about through the Strait of Gibraltar, 
or to Marseilles and across France by rail. 

A cog railroad like those we have at Mount Washington 
and Pike's Peak was built up Mount Rigi many years ago, 
that travelers might see the view. This was so well 
patronized that similar roads have since been built to the 
tops of other peaks, so that Mark Twain has said there is 
now scarcely a great Alp that has not a railroad or ladder 
up its back like a pair of suspenders. 

This is, of course, an exaggeration. There are many 
conveniences for travelers ; but you cannot cross glaciers 
by railroad, and the most interesting places must be visited 
on foot. We take the railroad from Basel over the high 
plains to the foot of the Alps, and then tramp on our way 
up one mountain after another, through some of the 
grandest scenery of the world. 

The air grows colder as we go up. We leave the culti- 
vated farms and vineyards, climbing higher and higher, 



THE ALPS. 



253 



now passing through forests of beeches, chestnuts, and 
walnuts ; now walking along a mountain side overlooking 
a beautiful valley spotted with the cottages of the farm- 
ers; and now reaching the higher lands where there are 




Railroad up Mount Rigi. 

only forests of fir and pine trees, and pastures with cows, 
sheep, and goats feeding upon them. Higher still the 
trees disappear, and shrubs and strange flowers are alone 
to be seen. There are many bushes, lovely Alpine roses, 
and creeping azaleas. The grass is shorter than below, 
but it smells so sweet that we do not wonder the cattle 
and sheep greedily eat it. There are many small but bril- 
liant flowers among the rocks ; deep blue, light pink, and 
delicate purple blossoms are everywhere growing, even on 
the snow line, which we reach at eight or nine thousand 
feet above the sea. 



254 SWITZERLAND. 

When we started we were in midsummer. Here we 
seem to be in midwinter, save that the sun is hot at mid- 
day, and we perspire as we climb. There is snow all 
around us. It banks the paths, it covers the rocks, and 
in the higher levels it is deep in the hollows. We see it 
melting under our feet only to freeze again at night, and 
turn the pathway to ice. 

The air is cold when the sun sets. It is damp where 
the wind blows over the snow. We frequently see white 
clouds float down from above over our pathway and wrap 
us in mist. Now they thicken, and we are walking in a 
light rain ; now the sun sends his rays through them, they 
disappear, and we are warm again. 

Near the tops of the mountains we travel slowly. The 
air is so thin that we sometimes gasp for breath. Our 
feet grow heavy and our hearts beat with the exertion. 
Much of the way is over dangerous paths where we move 
along in single file, each bound in one of the loops of 
a long rope which is tied to the guide; so that if one 
should slip, the others would keep him from dashing to 
pieces over the dizzy precipices along which we are 
crawling. In the same way we cross the ice wastes 
where there are cracks hundreds of feet deep, and where 
we pull ourselves along through the snows. 

The views are indescribable. At the foot of the 
mountains we see silvery lakes in nests of green hills, 
walled with these snowy peaks, which mirror themselves 
in their waters. In the gorges, roofed by the blue sky, 
rocks, half moss-covered and scarred by glaciers, rise pre- 
cipitously for a thousand feet, and at their feet roar and 
fcam rivers of milk-white glacier water as cold as the icy 
caves in which they are born. 

From the peaks we see snowy mountains, one climbing 



THE ALPS. 255 

over the other until they are lost in the blue sky of the 
horizon. Below is the jumbled mass of green forest and 
gray rock, and, beyond the snow line, the glassy lakes and 
silvery streams reflecting the sun and the green pastures, 
with the dots and spots upon them marking the cattle and 
the homes of the peasants, while still far below, with our 
glasses, we can see the towns and cities of the plains. 




" Much of the way is over dangerous paths." 

Among our most interesting journeys are those over 
the glaciers, those great snow rivers of the Alps which 
were frozen ages ago and which are freezing still. They 
are vast masses of ice and snow, filling the gorges high up 
in the mountains ; and slowly, slowly moving down into 
the valleys, writing their diaries upon the rocks and earth 
through which they are plowing their way. Switzerland has 
hundreds of these mighty frozen cataracts or ice rivers. 

CARP. EUROPE — 1 6 



256 SWITZERLAND. 

The best place to see them is in the Valley of Chamouni 
(sha-moo-ne'), high up on the side of Mont Blanc. The 
summit of this mountain is just over the border in France 
but so much of its slope is in Switzerland that many people 
have looked upon it as a Swiss mountain. It is, with the 
exception of certain peaks of the Caucasus, the highest 
mountain in Europe, its snow-clad peak rising 15,781 feet 
above the sea, and high above the Valley of Chamouni 
into which sixty-four of its great glaciers drain. 

We walk across the Tete Noire (tat nwar) Pass to 
Chamouni, where we stay over night at one of the hotels 
to get an early start for the glaciers. The sun is just 
rising when we come to the great walls of ice beyond the 
terminal moraines. Our guides cut steps into the ice, 
and climbing up, help us along by the ropes they have 
fastened about their waists. It is hard work, our hands 
are sore with the pulling and cold where we have seized 
the ice to hold on, but at last we reach the top and stand 
on the glacier. We are now in the midst of a wide, turbu- 
lent ice river. The waves are piled up in all sorts of 
shapes, and the surface looks as though the stream had 
been rolling and tossing like the sea in a storm, when by 
the wand of Jack Frost it was changed into ice. 

The surface of the glacier is rough with little peaks 
here and there. It has many great cracks or crevasses, 
some of which are several hundred feet deep. We lean 
over one and hear the water rolling along away down 
there under the great mass of ice. There are streams of 
ice water flowing into the cracks and crossing the glacier 
this way and that. Here is a pool and there is a great 
crevasse half filled with melted snow. We get down 
on our knees, and take a drink of ice water from the 
pool, and then start over the glacier. We drive the steei 



THE ALPS. 257 

points of our alpenstocks into the snowy white surface 
to steady ourselves, although we are tied with ropes to 
one another and to the guide. In single file we thus make 
our way up the frozen river, now jumping a crevasse, 
now winding about to avoid the greater ice mounds, and 
now skirting the banks or moraines, the masses of boul- 




Mer de Glace. 

ders and clay which the glacier has forced up and is carry- 
ing along as it moves on its way. 

And is this glacier moving ? Let us stop and watch it. 
We hear a great crack now and then, and sometimes a 
stone rolls down from the mountains upon it ; but we see 
no signs of motion in the great icy river under our feet. 
And still it is moving now as it has been moving for ages. 
It is one of the oldest travelers of history. It began its 



258 



SWITZERLAND. 



journey centuries ago, and it will probably go on for ages 
to come. It is traveling at the rate of two feet per day, or 
about an inch every hour. 

Be careful how you jump across that crevasse ! If you 
should slip you might be lost in the ice, and by the rope to 




"We travel under the Saint Gothard Pass." 

which we are tied pull us all down to destruction, as was 
the case of eight travelers on one of these Mont Blanc 
glaciers in 1820. They were walking along just as we 
are, when they slipped and were buried two hundred feet 
deep in the Grande Crevasse. The snow covered their 
remains, and it was not until about forty years later that 



THE ALPS. 



259 




Lake Como. 



their frozen bodies began to appear at the end of the 
glacier. In that time they had traveled about five miles, 
or six hundred and eighty feet per year, borne along in 
the glacier. 

After exploring the Mer de Glace (mar d' glas), or Sea 
of Ice, and other glaciers about Chamouni, we climb 
through the snows to the top of Mont Blanc, and later 
on go up the Rigi and other mountains by cog railroads. 
We travel under the Saint Gothard Pass through its famous 
tunnel ten miles long to the south side of the Alps ; and 
after visiting the Lakes of Como and Maggiore (mad-jo'ra) 
come back over the Simplon (saN-ploN 1 ) Pass in a great 
coach drawn by six horses, three abreast. We have seats 
on the roof so high up that we need a ladder to reach 
them. Each of the horses has a necklace of bells which 
jingle merrily as we gallop along. The coachman blows a 



2DO SWITZERLAND. 

horn now and then, and the people come out and stare at 
us as we dash through the villages and down the steep hills. 
We spend one night at the Hospice, a large stone house 
on the top of the mountain, where we are entertained by the 
monks. They are kind-faced, shaven-headed men, in cowls 
and long gowns, who live here high up in the Alps all the 
year round to succor travelers who may be lost in the storm. 
They show us the huge red and white St. Bernard dogs, 
which are trained to hunt for persons who may, perhaps, 
have been lost in the snow, or knocked senseless by an 
avalanche, or by a stone falling down from the mountains. 
Every day during the winter these dogs are sent out, each 
carrying some food and a small bottle of brandy about its 
neck. When they find a lost traveler who is unconscious, 
they endeavor to arouse him ; they sit down beside him and 
howl for their masters, or perhaps run back to the Hospice 
and lead them to the spot. 

XXVII. THE SWISS PEOPLE AND HOW THEY 
ARE GOVERNED. 

WHAT a busy country Switzerland is! It is the 
playground of Europe, but it is the workshop of 
the Swiss. Every one of the natives seems to be busy. 
The men are doing all sorts of work, and the women knit 
and make lace even while they are resting from their other 
labors. All are well dressed according to their station. 
There are no beggars, and no one seems to be suffering. 
The cities are clean and well kept The houses have 
gardens about them in which are beautiful roses and other 
flowers ; the stores are filled with fine goods, and all the 
surroundings are those of thrift and good living. The 



THE SWISS PEOPLE. 



26l 



Swiss, although there are more than three millions of them 
in their little mountainous country, have become the most 
prosperous people of Europe. They all make a good liv- 
ing, and many grow wealthy. 

How do they do it? In all sorts of ways. They are 
skilled in manufacturing and trading. Their little country 
is surrounded by rich nations, and they have commerce with 
all of them, export- 
ing many million dol- 
lars' worth of goods 
every year. They 
are one of the chief 
of the manufactur- 
ing nations. They 
not only work them- 
selves, but make their 
mountains work for 
them, using the water 
power furnished by 
the turbulent streams 
to run thousands of 
factories and mills of 
all kinds. 

About Zurich, on 
a beautiful lake, cot- 




Making Lace. 



tons, woolens, and silks are produced; at Basel, on the 
Rhine, ribbons as beautiful as those we saw made in 
France are woven by hand, and at St. Gall trimmings, em- 
broideries, and laces of all kinds are manufactured for 
export to Europe and the United States. 

If you want a fine music box you can buy wonderful 
ones at Geneva, and as for watches, they are sold at such 
low prices that we are tempted to carry several home to 



262 SWITZERLAND. 

our friends. In many towns in the Jura Mountains, and 
about Lake Geneva, nearly every one seems busy making 
watches and clocks. Some are filing out the cog wheels, 
others adjusting the springs or polishing the cases. Swiss 
watches are sold all over the world, and many are sent to 
our country. 

It is really wonderful, the different things they do in 
the villages. Each town has its own specialty. In some 
places the people are all making leather goods, in others 
they are carving things out of wood, and in others turning 
out manufactures of metal by machinery and hand. In 
one district on the south side of the Alps the people breed 
silkworms, and in the canton of Grisons they raise snails 
for sale. In some mountain villages the boys learn special 
trades, and go to other parts of Europe to practice them. 
One town sends out skillful masons and glaziers, another 
is noted for its fine pastry cooks, another for its chimney 
sweeps, while others supply waiters for the big hotels all 
over Europe. 

We see the people farming everywhere as we travel 
through Switzerland. Their country is so small that they 
have to import much of their food, but they raise all they 
can. Nearly every family owns some land, and there are 
three hundred thousand feasant farmers. We find patches 
of cabbages and potatoes, little hay fields and pastures almost 
to the line of perpetual snow, and every bit of the plains 
and valleys is given up to orchards and vineyards, grain 
fields and hay fields, and gardens raising all sorts of 
vegetables. 

We are surprised at the smallness of the farms in the 
mountains. Some of the fields are no bigger than a bed 
quilt, and others are so steep and rocky that they cannot 
be plowed, but are dug up with spades and hoes. The 



THE SWISS PEOPLE. 



263 



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"They carry loads on their backs." 

grass must be cut down with sickles or scythes, and carried 
to the barns on pitchforks or in blankets or baskets on 
the backs of women and men. 

We see women and children everywhere working. They 
tend the cows in the mountains, knitting as they keep them 
from straying. They carry loads on their backs over the 
roads, and on some of the farms they really seem to be 
very beasts of burden. We see them tottering along with 
heavy baskets on their backs, held there by straps like 
knapsacks. There is a family preparing a hillside for 
planting! The field is so steep we use our alpenstocks 
to climb it, and yet the women and children are walking 



264 



SWITZERLAND. 



up with heavy loads on their backs. They are carrying 
up the manure from that stable on the other end of the 
road. The father of the family is loading the stuff with 
a fork into baskets on the backs of the women and 
children. That old woman who stands there may be the 




Swiss Vineyard. 



grandmother, for her hair is gray, and her face is covered 
with wrinkles. She is leaning down, for her basket is full ; 
now she totters up the hill, and bending down, pitches her 
load out on the ground over her head. Now a girl of 
eight and a boy of ten, each carrying a similar basket, 
have taken their places at the pile, and the man is filling 



THE SWISS PEOPLE. 



265 



the baskets, while a woman, who may be their mother, 
awaits her turn at the work. A little farther on we see 
some girls picking up stones, and near them two women 
are spading the sod. Just across the road a man and a 
woman are planting a field, and still farther down an ox 
cart driven by a boy is climbing the hill. 




House in the Highlands. 

Here in the mountains are the chief pasture lands of 
Switzerland. The country is noted for its excellent butter 
and cheese, which are shipped everywhere. The grass is 
rich, and it has such a sweet smell that the milk and butter 
are both fragrant and delicious. We pass many dairies, 
and we hear the tinkle, tinkle, tinkle of the bells on the 
necks of the cows. 

In many villages the pasture lands are held in common, 



266 SWITZERLAND. 

and the cows are sent out to them under the care of the 
village herdsman. He drives them to the highlands in 
the spring, going higher and higher as the snow melts, and 
coming back in the autumn as the snow falls. He has a 
house, and sometimes a dairy, away up in the mountains, 
where, with his assistants, he makes butter and cheese, 
sending some from time to time to the village. In the 
farms farther down the cheese is often made in the living 
room of the family, and the hayloft and stables are often a 
part of the chalet, or cottage, the cows living under the 
same roof with the people. 

There are lumber camps and sawmills along the moun- 
tain streams, and huts and cottages are to be seen every- 
where. In the highlands many of the houses are of only 
one story, with low, wide, overhanging roofs, on which flat 
stones have been laid to keep the fierce winds from tearing 
them off. Almost all the houses are of wood, but they 
are comfortable, and many are very picturesque; they 
have roses and other flowers about them, and are often 
covered with vines. 

The Swiss of the lower lands, and especially of the cities, 
dress much like the people of other parts of Europe ; but 
in the mountains there are many strange costumes. The 
women wear short skirts, with their arms bare to the elbows. 
Their best gowns have velvet vests decorated with rows of 
big silver buttons and silver chains. They have curious 
headdresses of cotton and lace, which vary in the dif- 
ferent parts of the country. The men often wear hats 
with feathers in them and velveteen suits with great silver 
buttons. 

The Swiss are a very strong people. They are so noted 
for their powers of endurance and bravery that in the past 
the other nations were glad to hire them as soldiers. At 



THE SWISS PEOPLE. 



267 



Lucerne there is a huge lion carved out of the side of a 
rock to commemorate the bravery of the Swiss Guard in 
defending the king of France at the time of the Revolution. 
The brave Swiss died at their posts rather than admit the 




Lucerne. 

mob, and this monument has been erected at their native 
place in praise of their devotion to duty. In recent years 
the custom of hiring men out to fight has passed away, 
for the Swiss prefer to remain among their own mountains 
in the land they so dearly love. They pride themselves 
on their freedom, and look upon their country as the birth- 
place of liberty. 

Switzerland is the oldest of the republics, now in exist- 
ence. Its people governed themselves long before America 
was discovered, and many stories are told of their inde- 



268 SWITZERLAND, 

pendence and pride. We have all heard of William Tell ; 
how he refused to bow down before the cap of Gessler, 
the Austrian governor, and how, as a punishment, he was 
required to shoot the apple off his little son's head in the 
market place of Altorf near Lucerne. He did shoot at 
the apple and hit it ; but he had also another arrow, with 
which he expected to shoot Gessler, if he had wounded his 
son. There are people who will tell you this story is not 
true ; but the Swiss, who should know, evidently believe 
it, and in Lucerne celebrations in honor of Tell are held 
every year. 

The government of the Swiss republic is somewhat 
different from ours. The little country is divided up into 
twenty-two cantons or districts, each of which has its own 
local government, and elects members to a National Con- 
gress which sits at the capital, the city of Bern. These 
little cantons correspond to our states ; but they are 
governed differently, and some of them have curious 
ways of making their laws. In certain cantons, the men 
all meet together at a fixed time in a large field, and there, 
out on the grass, they elect their officers, and make the 
laws. In the larger cantons, they choose men to make 
their laws for them, but even there important things must 
be voted on by the people themselves. 

At Bern we learn all about the National Congress, 
which has to do with matters which concern the whole 
country, having much the same powers as our Congress. 
It even elects the president and vice president, and makes 
all treaties and provisions for the defense of the nation. 

Switzerland has fortifications at the passes over the Alps, 
and also in some other places. According to law a stand- 
ing army cannot be maintained within the country ; but 
every Swiss serves as a soldier for a part of his life, and 



THE SWISS PEOPLE. 269 

every public school has its military drills, in which the 
boys, beginning at eight years of age, are taught to bear 
arms. So if the nation should be attacked, it could put 
half a million men at once in the field. 

The Congress has charge of the railroads, telegraphs, 
and telephones, with which the country is well supplied. 
The Swiss republic keeps up a good postal system. It has 
such excellent schools, and so many universities, that its 
people are amongst the best educated, and most intelligent 
of Europe. Nearly every one speaks two or more lan- 
guages, for the nation has no language especially its own. 
In most of the cantons of northern and eastern Switzer- 
land they speak German, in the districts nearest France 
they speak French, and on the southern side of the Alps 
many speak Italian. There are so many American and 
English travelers that English is taught in the schools; 
and we find people everywhere with whom we can talk. 

We are delighted with the cities of Switzerland. There 
are not many of them, for most of the people live in small 
towns and villages. Zurich, about the size of Indianapolis, 
is the largest city, then comes Basel, noted for its manu- 
facturing, Geneva, the commercial and business center of 
the country, and then the capital, Bern. 

We spend some time in Bern. It is a quaint, old- 
fashioned town lying under the shadow of the Alps on 
both sides of the turbulent river Aar. Its streets run up 
hill and down, and the houses of the upper level sometimes 
hang out over those below. The most of the buildings are 
of gray stone, with roofs of red tiles. The stores front on 
arcades or cloisters, which seem as dark as a pocket, when 
you enter them from the dazzling sunlight outside. Beside 
the doors, out in the arcades, are benches or chairs, on which 
women sit knitting, while they sell toys, fruit, and laces. 



270 SWITZERLAND. 

We go to the federal palace to call upon the president. 
We visit the public gardens, and stop for a moment before 
the hideous statue of the Child-eating Ogre. This is a figure 
of a giant sitting on a stone column, with a bundle of babies 
beside him. He has taken a baby out of the bundle with 
his right hand, and is putting it into his mouth, while the 
other little ones calmly wait their turns to be eaten. The 




" We visit the bear v 

giant is horrid, and we may see it again in our dreams, 
imagining ourselves in his power. 

We next visit the bear pit, a well with a railing about it 
where some huge bears are always kept by the cir 
honor of its name " Bern," which means bear. For the 
same reason there are stone bears ornamenting many of 
the buildings, and also the procession of little wooden 
bears, which every hour comes out of the great clock on 






FROM ULM TO VIENNA. 27 1 

the tower in the center of the city. As the clock strikes, 
a cock claps his wings, and crows, and then the bears 
come forth, and bow their heads, as they march about a 
figure of old Father Time, who reviews them. We buy 
some bread and apples from an old woman, near the bear 
pit, and feed the live monsters, which stand on their hind 
legs and catch the food in their red mouths as it falls. 

Later on we buy gingerbread bears, and bears of white 
candy, with red peppermint tongues, at a cook shop near 
by, and also toy bears of brass and carved wood, to take 
home as mementos of Bern. 



*<*<: 



XXVIII. THE UPPER DANUBE — FROM ULM 

TO VIENNA. 

THE Danube is, next to the Volga, the largest river of 
Europe. It drains a basin more than six times the 
size of the state of New York, and is also connected by 
canals with the basins of the Rhine and the Elbe. It is 
about twice as long as the Rhine, and is quite as important 
as a commercial water way. 

Until about the time Columbus discovered America, the 
Danube was one of the two chief trade routes from Asia 
to Europe. Then no one thought it possible to go to India 
and China by sea, as is now done, about the Cape of Good 
Hope, or through the Suez Canal. All the spices, tea, 
and dried fruits, all the fine silks, pearls, and other beau- 
tiful things from China, Japan, India, and the various 
parts of Asia, were carried overland to the Mediterranean 
ports. Here they were shipped either to Venice, tc be taken 
across the Alps to the Rhine, or to Constantinople and 

CARP. EUROPE — 17 



2?2 THE UPPER DANUBE. 

across the Black Sea to the mouths of the Danube, and 
on up that stream to be transferred to the Rhine. In 
the same way woolen clothes and other goods from Hol- 
land, Belgium, France, Germany, and England, were sent 
up the Rhine and thence down the Danube to Constan- 
tinople. 

The Danube <vas also one of the chief routes of the 
Crusaders, the knights of the Middle Ages who went to 
the Holy Land to redeem the tomb of our Savior from 
the Turks. In our journey we shall see the castles where 
some of them were imprisoned by the robber barons for 
ransom. Between the towns of Linz and Vienna are the 
remains of a dungeon in which Richard the Lion-hearted, 
king of England, was imprisoned for sixteen months, while 
his bad brother John ruled. One day he heard a familiar 
air played under his window, from which he knew that his 
servant Blondell was outside, and through him was able to 
make his escape. 

To-day the Danube is traveled more than ever, although 
it has lost much of its commerce with Asia. It flows 
through rich countries which are now teeming with peo- 
ple. Cities and towns have grown up on its banks, and 
vast quantities of lumber, manufactured goods, and food 
products are carried back and forth over its waters. 

But we shall see all this much better as we steam down 
the river. We leave Bern by train, and passing through 
the Black Forest, stop first at Ulm, a quaint little city at the 
head of the navigation of the Danube. It has crooked 
streets and old houses, many of which were built before 
the new route to Asia was discovered, when Ulm, which 
was then easily reached from Italy by several passes over 
the Alps, was twice as big as it is now. We take a boat 
and row out into the river. The water is yellow with mud, 



FROM ULM TO VIENNA. 



273 



and we look in vain for the beautiful blue in which the 
Danube has been painted in song and story. At Ulm it 
is only an ordinary stream, and we are much disappointed. 

We are told, however, that the river grows more interest- 
ing after it flows into Austria; and as there are several 
towns in Bavaria which we wish to see, we postpone our 
water journey until later. 

We first go to Nuremberg. Like Ulm, it was a great 
town in the Middle Ages, and is still one of the famous 
cities of Europe. Its 
houses have quaint 
roofs with sharp 
gables ; they have 
many old windows, 
with small panes of 
glass, which seem to 
frown down on the 
electric cars pass- 
ing below through 
the crooked streets. 
There is an old wall 
about the town. 
Many of the houses 
have antique carv- 
ings and statues of 
wizards and ogres 
upon them, and they 
are so jumbled together that we wonder if the architects 
did not have the nightmare, for they seem to have tangled 
up the town in their dreams. 

There is one thing, however, that delights us in Nurem- 
berg. This is the toys. There is no other city in the 
world where so many toys are made, and no other place 




Its houses have quaint roofs and sharp 
gables." 



274 



THE UPPER DANUBE. 



where you can buy them so cheap. There are thousands 
of people who work at nothing else but toys. They make 
all sorts of playthings : dolls that will talk, dogs that will 
bark, and woolen kittens that mew so naturally that all the 
live cats in the neighborhood stop still and listen. They 
make toys of wood, and toys of metal, steam toys, and 

electrical toys, and 
in fact every sort of 
toy you can imagine. 
They manufacture so 
many toys that great 
boxes and bales of 
them are shipped 
every year to all parts 
of Europe and our 
country, to be there 
in time for the holiday 
trade. After visiting 
the factories we lin- 
ger long in the toy 
bazars, each buying 
some of the little 
mechanical wonders 
to carry back to 

Victory Gate, Munich. Nuremberg has 

been noted for centuries for its beautiful toys. In the 
Middle Ages the Crusaders and others here got many of 
the presents they carried home to their children ; and it 
was here that were made the first watches, which went by 
the name of " Nuremberg Eggs," because these watches 
were shaped somewhat like an &gg. 

From Nuremberg we take train for Munich, the capital 




FROM ULM TO VIENNA. 



275 



of Bavaria. It has a large population and is one of the 
finest cities of Europe. It has many beautiful statues and 
monuments. It is noted for its music; it has one of the 
largest libraries of the world, and its art galleries have so 
many fine pictures that hundreds of Americans come here 
to study painting. It is also a great railroad center, and a 
grain market, and it has factories of many kinds. 

There is one thing made in Munich which many of the 
Germans might think more important than any other. 
What do you think it is ? It is beer. Munich makes vast 
quantities of this liquor and exports it to all parts of the 
world. There are beer halls and beer cellars everywhere 
in the German cities, and many gardens where the people 
drink while they listen to music. 




Farm House. 



From Munich we take train for Salzburg, at the foot of 
the Alps on the border of Austria. The Alps extend 
from Switzerland across southern Bavaria and on into 
Austria, being then known as the Tyrol. We ride slowly out 



276 THE UPPER DANUBE. 

of Munich, and then move rapidly over the plateau of 
Bavaria. The scenes are somewhat like those of north- 
ern Germany. The farmers live in villages, so we see no 
barns nor houses standing alone in the fields. There are 
no fences, the cattle are herded or kept in stables, and 
the cut grass is brought to them. We see men, women, 
and children at work. There is a field where several girls 
are raking hay, and here an old woman is kneeling down 
weeding the corn, while on the opposite side of the track 
a boy is loading up grass on a cart drawn by a dog. 

The roads are well kept and as smooth as a floor. They 
form long white stripes through the green fields. They are 
lined with forest trees, so that we can see them stretching 
away for miles over the landscape. 

Farther on we ride along great beds of peat, where 
the people are digging out their winter fuel, and laying it 
in the sun to dry. The scenes remind us of our travels in 
Ireland. There are miles of peat beds in southern Ger- 
many, supplying, not only the farmers, but also Munich, 
with fuel, for the peat is cheaper than coal and it makes a 
warm fire. 

We stop at Salzburg, on the border of Germany and 
Austria, to visit the great salt mines of Hallein in the 
mountains near by. The deposits are of vast extent and 
great value. They have been worked for ages, and even 
in the times of the Romans salt came from here. We are 
permitted to go down into the mines accompanied by one 
of the workmen. We first change our clothing, each 
putting on an old fez cap and a suit of dirty white sail 
cloth such as is used by the miners. We have thick leather 
mittens and heavy-soled shoes. It all seems very odd, and 
we laugh at one another as we stand at the entrance of 
the mine to have our photographs taken. 



FROM ULM TO VIENNA. 277 

Then, accompanied by our guide, we climb down one 
ladder after another, going down, down, down into the 
earth. It is dark and the guides give us candles. Now 
we get astride of a smooth rail or board and slide down, 
many feet farther, holding to a rope at the side. The de- 
scent is steep and it is only our thick leather gloves that 
keep our hands from being blistered and burned. We 
drop rapidly, and at last come to the bottom where the salt 
workings are. 

We have passed many tunnels above, and now see 
that the earth is honeycombed on all sides with passages. 
Long avenues, which have been cut out of the salt rock, go 
this way and that through the mountain. There are so 
many of them that we keep close to our guide, for we 
tremble to think how easy it would be to get lost and 
never find our way out. Many of the tunnels are crooked 
and long since abandoned. Some have water in them, and 
a false step might drop us into a pooL 

Our guide leads us onward, and at last we come to a 
great lake 'way down here in the heart of the mountains. 
There are lights about the lake which aid in dispelling the 
gloom, and we can see that the earth is not far above the 
water. As we get into the boat we stand up and scratch 
off a bit of the dirt roof, and touch it to our tongues. It 
is as salt as the sea. The lakes are sometimes allowed to 
wash down the salt, their outlets being shut off so that the 
water goes clear to the roof. Great piles of salt are 
thrown into them, and the salt is dissolved in the water. 

This is the case with the lake on which we are riding. 
Lean over and let your hand drag at the side of the boat, 
and then lick your fingers. How salty they are! The 
water is briny ! After it has become well filled with salt 
it will be flowed off through pipes down the mountains to 



278 THE UPPER DANUBE. 

great evaporating tanks, where the water will be driven off 
by heat and the dry salt be left 

But here we are at the farther shore and the guide tells 
us to hurry. He takes us to some little cars where the 
miners are waiting to push us out We climb in, and with 
the men pulling and shoving are soon brought again out 
to the dazzling light of day. 

A short ride on the railroad from Hallein brings us to 
Linz on the Danube, where it flows through the mountains 
from Bavaria to Austria. Here we take passage on a big 
river steamer and are soon on our way toward Vienna. 
The scenery is even more interesting than that of the 
Rhine. The mountains are higher, the rocks are steeper, 
and there are almost as many castles and old robber 
fortresses. 

Now we float by green meadows on which fat cattle are 
grazing. Now we pass quaint old villages of one-story 
sharp-roofed . houses built close to the street, in which the 
goats and geese are picking at the grass between the cobble 
stones ; and now along hills terraced with vineyards, and 
mountains covered by a thick growth of small pines. At 
some places we are close to the banks, and at others so far 
away that we seem to be in a lake rather than a river. 

Now we are steaming by a town of thatched houses, 
little buildings of stucco with windows the size of a hand- 
kerchief. See the girls doing their washing over there on 
that bank. They are standing up to their knees in the 
water and pounding the dirt out of the clothes with long 
wooden paddles. Farther down stream a woman is bath- 
ing two boys. They stand up to their waists in the 
water while she scrubs them with soap. One of the boys 
is crying and we judge he dislikes his daily bath as much 
as do some of the boys of our country. 



FROM ULM TO VIENNA. 279 

See those lumber rafts we are passing. The waves 
made by our boat roll them about in the water, and the 
children on the roofs of the raft houses are yelling for 
fear. What queer-looking craft! The logs are tied to- 
gether in piles, and upon each raft is a hut where the 
lumbermen live while they row and float down the river. 

We pass covered barges so odd that they make us think 
of Noah's Ark ; they belong to traders who are carrying 
their goods from one Danube town to another. The 
traders live on the boats with their families, and the chil- 
dren play about on the floor and the roofs. They wave 
their hands at us as we pass, standing so close to the edge 
of the boat that we fear the little ones may fall in. We 
wonder why their parents do not tie little barrels to their 
children to keep them from sinking, as the Chinese do with 
their baby boys on the house boats of southern China. 

Now we are stopping to take on some pilgrims who 
wish to worship at one of the shrines farther down stream. 
The Danube has many churches, some of which are so 
holy in the minds of the people that they think their sins 
will be forgiven if they can only pray in them. Crosses 
sometimes stand in the village streets, and the people pray 
there. Our pilgrims are Austrian peasants of all ages and 
sizes, from little children to full-grown women and men. 
The women and girls wear beads, and some of the men 
carry crosses with figures of the Savior upon them, and 
all pray and sing, and cross themselves from time to time. 

Now we pass Durenstein, the great castle on the rock 
containing the dungeon where King Richard was confined, 
and now other ruined castles, each of which could tell 
many sad stories of the cruelty, robbery, and murders of 
the Middle Ages, when this was the great pathway to 
Palestine. 



28o 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 




"Crosses sometimes stand in the village street." 

The traffic thickens as v/e steam onward. We pass 
market boats, wood rafts, and grain and wool barges. 
We move on, in and out among launches, tugs, and steam- 
ers of all sizes, until in the distance we see the tall spire 
of Saint Stephen's cathedral, and the high buildings of the 
great city of Vienna (see map, p. 292). 



>:*:< 



XXIX. IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA- 
HUNGARY 

BEFORE we go out to explore Vienna I want to tell 
you something about the great country of which it is 
the capital. Austria-Hungary is larger than any land we 
have yet visited. It is the largest country of Europe 
except Russia, and it has more different nations in it than 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



28l 



any other. You may think its people are much like the 
Germans. So they are in the western part through which 
we have passed, and also here in Vienna ; but in Bohemia 
at the north they have a different language, near Russia 
they speak the Po- 
lish, and on the bor- 
ders of Italy they 
speak Italian. Aus- 
tria has thousands 
of schools where 
the children are 
taught in the Czechs 
(chechs or cheks) 
tongue, and other 
thousands where 
they speak the Slav. 
In Hungary it is 
even worse. There 
are many there who 
speak Magyar, and 
many who talk like 
our gypsies ; other 
dialects are almost 
Turkish. There are 
so many strange 
languages that if 
we leave the main 
traveled roads we 
shall need a new guide every day. We shall find the 
people are as odd as their speech, for they are of many 
races joined together under one ruler. There are in all 
more than forty millions of them, and they are a very 
great nation indeed. 




The people are as odd as their speech.' 
Roumanian Girls. 



282 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

The Austro-Hungarians have one of the richest coun- 
tries of Europe, although it is not so fully developed as 
those through which we have traveled. The land is one of 
many mountains and two very large plains. The moun- 
tains comprise the Eastern Alps or the Tyrol, where the 
scenery is much like that of Switzerland, and the Transyl- 
vanian and Carpathian Mountains, which are wilder, as 
well as smaller ranges. All the mountains contain min- 
erals, including coal, iron, gold, silver, quicksilver, lead, 
copper, and zinc. Some have great beds of salt and others 
deposits of sulphur, bismuth, and alum. Some are also 
covered with dense forests, in which are bears, wolves, 
deer, and wild hogs. 

At the north, surrounded by hills in the upper basin of 
the Elbe, is the plateau of Bohemia. It is very near the 
thickly populated district of Saxony, which we visited after 
leaving Berlin. Here the land is densely populated. There 
are many factories, glass works, and other industries sup- 
ported by the coal and other minerals near by. At the 
south, in the basin of the Danube, partially walled in by 
the Carpathian and Transylvanian Mountains, is the vast 
flat plain of Hungary, which produces so much wheat, rye, 
corn, and barley that it is called the granary of Europe. 
It feeds millions of sheep, hogs, and cattle, and raises food 
stuffs for export. 

Not one of the other countries we have visited raises 
enough food for its own people. Austria-Hungary not 
only supplies its own people, but is able to sell meat, 
flour, and grain to Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, 
and England. It is rapidly growing as a manufacturing 
country, and although it is in the heart of southern 
Europe, with only a small strip of seacoast, it has a large 
trade with other nations. It has two thriving ports at the 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



283 



head of the Adriatic Sea in the cities of Trieste and Fiume, 
and by the Danube it sends grain down to the Black Sea, 
and out through the Bosporus to all parts of the world. 

At Vienna we learn how the empire is governed. The 
two states of which it is comcjsed are independent of 
each other in most things, but chey have only one ruler 
as to national affairs. Do you remember any other part 
ot Europe which is governed in this way? We found 
the same thing in 
Norway and Swe- 
den, but the people 
there were of one 
race. Here, as we 
have seen, they are 
of many different 
races and hence are 
less closely joined. 

Austria and Hun- 
gary form the 
Austro - Hungarian 
monarchy, which is 
a union of the Aus- 
trian empire and the 
Hungarian king- 
dom, under a ruler who has the titles of the Emperor of 
Austria and the King of Hungary. The ruler is required 
to spend part of the year in each country. His home in 
Austria is at its capital, Vienna, and in Hungary at Buda- 
pest (boo'do-pest), the capital of that country. He has 
palaces in both places, but exercises far more power over 
the Austrians than over the Hungarians. 

Each country has its own Congress, elected by the vote 
of its people, and it therefore governs itself ; although for 




The Emperor's Bodyguard. 



284 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

defense and for dealings with other nations it is united in 
a combined monarchy. For instance, one minister repre- 
sents the two countries at Washington. 

Take a look at your map and notice the extensive 
frontier of Austria- Hungary. It is almost as long as the 
distance from California to China. The monarchy is sur- 
rounded by other nations, its only strip of seacoast being 
upon the narrow Adriatic Sea, with Italy just over the 
way. The result is that large fortresses and a great army 
are required to defend it. We shall meet almost as many 
soldiers here as in Germany. Every man belongs to the 
army, and must be ready to go out to fight at any time, so 
that if war were declared four million soldiers could at 
once be put into the field. It costs a vast amount to sup- 
port such large armies, and the people must therefore pay 
heavy taxes. Is it not a fine thing for us that our country 
is off by itself and so protected by the oceans that we can 
get along with few soldiers ? 

But let us start out for a ride through Vienna. Here 
we are on Ring Street, the wide avenue which surrounds 
the heart of the city. It is a broad street about two miles 
in length, with double rows of linden trees in the center, 
lined with such magnificent buildings that it has been 
called the finest street of the world. Here are the Houses 
of Parliament, the university containing six thousand stu- 
dents, the great museums and picture galleries, the large 
hotels, and so many fine stores that we seem to be driving 
through a long exposition. The buildings are enormous. 
Some single establishments cover a whole block. Nearly 
all have five or six stories, with stores on the ground floor 
and apartments above, like the houses we saw in Berlin. 
The Viennese live in flats, and very few single families 
own a whole house. 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 285 

How gay and lively everything is ! Did you ever see 
more beautiful stores, better buildings, or people who 
seem to enjoy themselves more ? Vienna vies with Paris 
as the gayest city of Europe. Its people are noted for 
their fondness for pleasure and their extravagant ways. 
They are said to have more rich among them than any 
other city on the Continent. Every one lives up to his 
means and all seem to live for the day. They are well 
dressed and fond of showing their clothes. They are 
famous for their jollity and their love of music. There 
are concert halls in every section of the city, and the Im- 
perial Opera House on Ring Street is one of the largest 
of the world. 

As we stroll along through the well-dressed crowds on 
the streets we see many strange faces and costumes. There 
comes a dark-bearded Turk with a red 
fez cap on his head. Behind him is a 
light-haired Jew from Bohemia, with two 
blond curls hanging down in front of his 
ears, while farther back are a Bulgarian 
peddling canes, a gypsy from the lower 
Danube, and two Greeks in skirts. We 
stop a few moments to watch the crowds 
as they pass, seeing Hungarians 
,and Bohemians, Italians and Rus- 
sians, Armenians and Swedes, as 

well as Germans and French, and " 7 we ** many stra f, ge 

, . ,. _ _ faces and costumes. 

others from all parts of Europe. 

Vienna is at one of the great crossroads of this conti- 
nent, and people of all nations pass through her wide 
streets. One human stream of many races flows up the 
valley of the Danube, coming out of the Orient, and an- 
other from northern and western Europe is always flowing 




286 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

down. A third stream comes from Italy across the low 
passes of the Austrian Alps on its way to and from Russia 
and Germany by way of Bohemia, the Elbe and Oder, and 
others flow down from East Russia and Germany. It was 
its situation at the junction of these great streams that first 
started Vienna. Even in the Middle Ages it was con- 
sidered a good place for commerce and trade, and of late 
years railroads have been built out from it in every direc- 
tion, so that it is now connected by steel tracks with all 
other parts of Europe. To-day fast express trains will 
take you from here to Berlin or to Rome, or by the famous 
Orient Express you may almost fly to Paris or Constanti- 
nople. Vienna is also the center of the Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy, and as such is the supply point for a large part 
of the trade of its fifty millions of people. 

But let us take a stroll out to the Prater (pra'ter), the 
chief pleasure grounds of this pleasure-loving city. It is 
a great forest park, embraced in the arms of the Danube, 
and reached by bridges filled with foot passengers and 
vehicles going over and back. The Prater has about four 
thousand acres of oaks, ash, chestnuts, and elms, the 
branches of which meet over its driveways and shut out 
the sun. It has lakes and canals, and velvety lawns, and 
shady nooks with seats under the trees. Formerly it had 
many tame deer, which ran about through the woods and 
allowed the children to pet them. 

But here we are just inside the park. How crowded it 
is, and how all are enjoying themselves ! We are hustled 
this way and that by the good-natured people, who beg 
our pardon in German for rubbing against us. We say, 
" Bitte," which, as they understand, means "it does not 
matter," and go along with them. Soon we come to a part 
of the grounds where there are more shows for children 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



287 



than at Coney Island and Atlantic City combined ; and we 
are glad of the fun after our hard study and travel. We 
take rides upon the wooden horses, lions, elephants, and 
camels of the merry-go-rounds ; we fly about on the roller 
coaster railroads; we slide down "chutes" like lightning, 
and see so many peep shows, Punch and Judys, and 




But let us take a stroll out to the Prater." 



other things, that we are almost distracted. Then there 
are donkeys to ride, and so many goat and dog carriages 
to drive that we can't try them all, although the fare in 
most cases is only five kreutzers, or about two cents of our 
money. 

We see many little Austrians picnicking under the trees, 
and watch boys and girls with their mothers eating at the 
restaurants, while they listen to the music of the bands. 

CARP. EUROPE — 1 8 



288 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



We look in at the concert hall, where hundreds are danc- 
ing, and take a free plunge into the city baths, where more 
than a thousand can wash themselves at one time. We 
then go to the Haupt Allee, to watch the splendid car- 
riages of the rich, who drive there every evening, and then 
walk out and take the street cars back to our hotel. 

Another day is spent in the Belvedere Picture Gallery, 
the great museums, and the imperial library, one of the 




We visit the emperor's palace. 



largest of the world. We visit the emperor's palace, and 
linger long in the treasure vaults, carefully watched by 
the guards ; for here, spread out in cases before our 
eyes, separated from us only by plates of glass, are some 
of the most valuable diamonds, pearls, and other precious 
stones that have ever been found. Among them is the 
Florentine diamond that Charles, the Bold lost on the 
battlefield of Granson in 1476. It was picked up by a 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 289 

Swiss soldier, who thought it a piece of glass and sold it 
to a merchant of Bern for two dollars and a half, although 
it is now valued at $125,000. Near this diamond is an 
emerald which weighs almost three thousand carats, and in 
the cases about us are so many necklaces, crowns, and other 
things set with diamonds, that our eyes are dazzled by 
them, and we wonder if we have not by mistake got into 
the cave of Aladdin, and look about for the lamp to rub 
our way out. There are cups, vases, and basins of 
gold beautifully carved, the crown of Charlemagne, the 
sword of Haroun al Raschid, a Persian ruler who figures 
in the "Arabian Nights," and also the silver cradle set 
with jewels in which Napoleon's little son, the king of 
Rome, lay when a baby. The cradle weighs five hundred 
pounds, and we wonder if the nurse did not grow tired 
rocking it when the little king was fretful over cutting his 
teeth. 

We climb to the top of the great cathedral of Saint Ste- 
phen's for a look over Vienna. The spire is four hundred 
and fifty feet high, and we have a grand view of the city 
and its surroundings. Below us lie many of the battle- 
fields of the past ; we look over the wooded hills in the 
distance and see the wide Danube, spotted with shipping, 
flowing amongst them. The forests, we are told, once 
came clear to the square in which the church stands, and 
beside one of the buildings upon it there is a stump pro- 
tected by iron bands which once marked the limit of those 
great woods of the past. It is called the Iron Stick, and 
its surface is studded with nails driven in by the locksmiths 
of Vienna. According to our guide, each smith had the 
right to put in a nail upon leaving the city, after which it 
was supposed he would have the protection of the spirits 
and be lucky. 



290 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 




" — we walk through the Graben." 

Coming out of the cathedral, we walk through the 
Graben, one of the oldest streets of Vienna and its chief 
shopping section. The stores have plate glass windows 
in which are displayed all sorts of beautiful things made 
of leather, ivory, silver, and gold. There are quantities of 
fine china and cut glass, and almost as many knickknacks 
and notions as we saw on the boulevards of Paris. Vienna 
is noted for its novelties. It weaves silks, cottons, and 
woolens ; has great works in which machines of many 
kinds are turned out, and it has factories of almost every 
description. The people manufacture many things in their 
homes, and we notice that the lives of the poorer classes 
are by no means all play. 

The women do as much work as the men. They wait 
upon us in the stores, they are the cashiers of the restau- 
rants, and while we eat and drink our ears are delighted 



IN THE CAPITAL OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 29 1 

by bands of female musicians. The Austrian women do 
all sorts of work in the factories, and in Vienna itself we 
sometimes see them pushing loaded wheelbarrows through 
the streets, and even carrying bricks and mortar on their 
shoulders up ladders to the masons on the new buildings. 
They have long hours and receive less wages than the men. 

Among the most beautiful things in the stores of 
Vienna are the various kinds of Bohemian glassware and 
jewelry, including opals and garnets. The opals are from 
Hungary ; and the garnets are so cheap that we ask where 
they come from, and are told that they are mined in Bohe- 
mia, not far from Prague. Garnets are precious stones 
which lie in the earth mixed with gravel. In gathering 
them the dirt is first washed off, and the stones- are then 
sorted by running them through sieves. After this, they 
are cut much as we saw them cutting diamonds in Amster- 
dam, save that emery paste instead of diamond dust is put 
on the revolving grinding plates. The garnets are fastened 
to sticks with cement, and are held against the plates in 
such a way that many sides or facets are cut in them. 
The most beautiful are of a bright red color, although 
white, yellow, green, and black garnets are found. 

During our stay in Vienna we take many excursions to 
the suburbs, visiting among other places the emperor's 
summer palace at Shoenbrunn (shon'broon), where Napo- 
leon Bonaparte had his headquarters when he besieged 
Vienna and made it surrender. The garden and park are 
both beautiful. There are long avenues broken by statues 
and fountains, and the whole looks more like fairyland 
than sober nature. Every tree has been cut and trimmed 
into some curious form. At one place there is a wall of 
green r -fifty feet high, as smooth as though it were made 
by a sculptor, and in others are trees of all shapes. 




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(292) 



HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS. 293 



XXX. HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS. 

WE take the steamer at seven o'clock in the morning 
and have an all day ride down the Danube to Buda- 
pest, the capital of Hungary. Our ship is as comfortable 
as that in which we sailed up the Rhine. It is crowded 
with peasants on the two lower decks, but we are above, 
In the first class, and have plenty of room. We take our 
camp stools out under the awnings which have been stretched 
over the steamer, and make notes of the scenery as we steam 
on our way. 

The river widens as we leave Vienna, branching out into 
great arms embracing islands covered with woods. We 
pass gardens, orchards, and vineyards in which men, 
women, and children are working, and steam on by quaint 
villages where the boys stand on the banks and cry out 
salutations in German to us as we go by. 

After a few hours we pass out of Austria and enter 
Hungary, one of the richest countries in Europe. It is 
more than fifteen times as big as Massachusetts; and al- 
most the whole of it has excellent soil. The northern part, 
where we enter the kingdom, is hilly ; we pass through the 
little Carpathian Mountains where the Danube has cut its 
way down to the great plains which lie just below. 

Now we are stopping at Pressburg, a little city with a 
ruined castle standing on the hill high above it. This town 
is noted in Hungarian history. For generations the kings 
were crowned in one of its churches, and its Parliament sat 
in that castle there on the hill. At one time, when it was 
sitting, Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary and a claimant 
of the Austrian throne, was attacked by several of the 
great nations of Europe. The young queen, so it is said, 



294 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



appeared before the Parliament with her little baby boy in 
her arms. She held the boy out before her and appealed 
to the members to aid her in maintaining his rights. She 
was so beautiful, so brave, and so eloquent that she carried 
the Parliament by storm ; the nobles arose and cried out, 




Pressburg. 

"We will die for our queen, the brave Maria Theresa!" 
They fought for her, and it was through their help that she 
succeeded in holding her own. 

From Pressburg we steam rapidly southward, passing 
many more towns and villages. There are railroads all 
along the banks of the Danube, and the region seems to 



HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS. 



295 



have a great population. As we approach Budapest, we 
ride for miles through densely populated suburbs before 
coming to anchor at the stone quays. 

We are surprised at Budapest. We knew it was the 
capital of Hungary, but it seemed so out of the way that 




Quays, Budapest 

we had not thought of it as one of the most beautiful 
cities of Europe. Indeed, in many respects it is finer 
than Vienna, although it is much smaller. The city lies 
on both banks of the Danube. Six great bridges have 
been built across from one side to the other, and there is a 



296 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

suspension bridge which makes us think of our bridges at 
Cincinnati and Niagara Falls. 

We ask why a city has grown up at this point, and are 
told that Budapest lies at the northern end of the great 
Hungarian plain where the highlands begin, and that its 
situation on the Danube makes it the best supply place and 
shipping place for this rich agricultural region. We see 
many large steam flour mills on the banks of the river, with 
hundreds of vessels and barges beside them, loading and 
unloading flour and grain. Budapest is the Minneapolis 
of Europe. It is one of its chief milling centers, for there 
are vast wheat fields all about it, and Hungarian wheat is 
of such excellent quality that bakers will pay the highest 
prices for its flour. 

Budapest is so situated that it has naturally become a 
great railroad center. We can get through express trains 
from here to Paris and Constantinople, and there are lines 
connecting us with all other parts of the Hungarian king- 
dom and with every other section of Europe. The city has 
also grown because it has been the capital of the many mil- 
lions of the Hungarian people, and because it is*the center 
of their social life, and manufactures, commerce, and trade. 

We land in Budapest on the left bank of the river. The 
town on the right bank is called Buda and that on the left 
Pest, the two now forming one city. The towns were for 
a long time separate, Buda being the older. Indeed, Buda 
was an important place in the time of the Romans and it 
has still the palace of the king. With this exception it is 
of no great importance, for Pest has outstripped it, having 
by far the greater part of the half million people who 
live in the two towns. 

It is in Pest that the chief buildings are situated, and 
there we find all the large stores, the best residences, and 



HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS. 



297 




Suspension Bridge, Budapest. 

the great government buildings. We walk from the boat 
to our hotel. The streets are wide and well kept. They 
are paved with asphalt, and now in the dusk of the early- 
evening we see electric lights in long lines, while between 
them electric cars are flying in both directions. Budapest 
was the first of the capitals of Europe to introduce electric 
railroads, and we can ride in electric cars under the streets 
in tunnels which have been made for the purpose. 

Our hotel is on Franz Joseph Square, not far from the 
river. The long steamboat ride has made us quite hungry, 
and we appreciate the meal, which is served in Hungarian 
fashion. Everything is well cooked and the food is deli- 
cious. The band plays as we eat, and the small fee we 
give at the close of the meal makes the waiters address 
us with respect, and insures us good service thereafter. 
The custom of feeing is common in all the cities of Europe. 



298 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



The hotel waiters expect it; but in Budapest they are 
easily satisfied, and there is no other place where one gets 
so much honor for so little money. If you hand the man 
two kreutzers, an amount equal to one of our cents, he 




Royal Palace, Budapest. 

will address you as " Sir." If you give him three cents he 
will probably call you "your Highness," and for six cents 
you can be elevated to the rank of the nobility. 

We spend some time in Budapest. It is a gay city, 
with many theaters, concert halls, and garden cafes, 
where the people sit out of doors and partake of 



HUNGARY AND THE HUNGARIANS. 



299 



refreshments while they listen to the music. We go 
to Margaret Island one afternoon, and eat our supper 
under the trees while the gypsy band plays. This island 
is the chief pleasure ground of Budapest. It makes us 
think of the Prater in Vienna, for there are many peep 
shows, concerts, and merry-go-rounds. We enjoy ourselves 
in strolling along the fine drives, and watching the chil- 
dren play on the grass. It is funny to see the babies 
carried around by their nurse maids on pillows. Each 
little one is pinned down under a white muslin cloth so 
that it cannot raise its arms or even kick very high. The 
babies wink and blink as we look at them, and sometimes 
one cries out in fright at the strange Americans. 

Returning to the city, we take a drive through the wide 
Andrassy Road, a boulevard more than two miles in length, 
lined with magnificent pal- 
aces and villas, surrounded 
by gardens. We visit the 
Parliament Houses, the mar- 
kets, and the great picture 
galleries. Budapest has pub- 
lic libraries, a university 
containing more than four 
thousand students, and all 
sorts of schools, including 
kindergartens for children of 
from three to six years. 

The schools of Budapest 
are conducted in the Magyar 
language, but in many parts 
of Hungary other languages 
are used. There are seventeen different peoples living in 
Hungary, each of which has its own dialect, so that it is 




Peasants. 



300 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

difficult for even a Hungarian to make himself understood 
in all parts of his country. There are Magyars, Slovaks, 
Roumanians, Bulgarians, Servians, Germans, Jews, gypsies, 
and many others. 

The Magyars are the ruling race, and they own the 
richest parts of the country. They originally came from 
Asia, but centuries ago made their way up the Danube, 
and settled in Hungary. They are a very brave people, 
patriotic and strong, proud and hospitable. They are 
fond of titles, and children are taught to show great respect 
to their elders as well as to one another. On ceremonial 
occasions a child addresses its father as Mr. Father, and 
its mother as Mrs. Mother. The oldest brother is then 
called Mr. Elder Brother, and the oldest sister Miss Elder 
Sister, w T hile the younger members of the family may be 
Miss Younger Sister and Mr. Younger Brother. 

The better classes of the Magyars are well educated. 
The rich dress in costly clothing, the court costume of 
the men being a satin jacket embroidered with geld, tight- 
fitting breeches, and top boots with spurs, to which are 
added a belt of gold and a fur cap, sometimes orna- 
mented with precious stones. 

The dress of the peasants of Hungary varies with the 
locality. We see strangely clad people in the markets 
of Budapest, and we shall meet others at almost every 
port, as w r e go on down the Danube. It seems queer to 
see women wearing top boots, but we grow accustomed to 
this long before we leave Hungary. The women of many 
sections have on boots of green, red, and other bright- 
colored leathers, which reach almost to their knees. They 
wear short skirts, and often have tight-fitting waists of 
different colors, and aprons which are beautifully embroid- 
ered. They seldom wear bonnets, and frequently have 



ON THE LOWER DANUBE. 3OI 

nothing at all on their heads. In some places their hair 
is braided into one long plait interwoven with ribbons 
which are tied in a bow at the end. 

The dress of the peasant men is as odd as that of the 
women. One costume consists of a jacket with silver or 
nickel buttons, a bright red waistcoat with white linen 
sleeves of great width, and wide fringed drawers which are 
embroidered with red and green, and tucked into high top 
boots. In the winter many of the peasants wear sheep- 
skin coats with the wool inside, and in the summer they 
sometimes have similar coats with the wool showing. 

In the Carpathian Mountains are the Slovaks, whose 
dress is somewhat like the Magyars', but not so neat. 
They wear the top boots and wide short trousers, but 
instead of a waistcoat they have a broad yellow belt a yard 
wide covered with buttons, coins, and other ornaments. 
These people have large hats, and woolen coats of white 
embroidered in red and green. The women plait ribbons 
in their hair, and then tie it up around their heads. The 
gypsies have their peculiar costume, and so have the peo- 
ple of nearly every other Hungarian tribe. 



3>^C 



XXXI. ON THE LOWER DANUBE FROM 
BUDAPEST TO THE BLACK SEA. 

ALONG the lower Danube are some of the most inter- 
esting parts of Europe. The river flows across the 
great plain of Hungary, and between the Transylvanian 
Alps, and the Balkan Mountains, through lands inhabited 
by strange peoples, many of which are little civilized and 
some almost unknown. The great river has several large 



302 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

tributaries in Hungary. We pass the mouth of the Drava 
on the right, and that of the Theiss (tis) on the left, before 
reaching the Servian boundary. Both rivers are filled 
with shipping. The Theiss has hundreds of steamers, 
and a stream of grain barges and lumber rafts is always 
flowing through the Francis Canal, which has been cut 
from that river across to the Danube. 

We are intensely interested in the strange sights of the 
Hungarian plain. The country reminds us of the Missis- 
sippi Valley. Now the land is rolling like the prairies of 
Illinois and Iowa, and now it is as flat as Nebraska and 
Kansas. We see vast crops of wheat, corn, rye, oats, and 
barley, but there are no fences, barns, or farmhouses 
standing alone on the landscape, as in the grain-growing 
parts of the United States. 

Now we are passing through a region where there is 
nothing but wheat, wheat, wheat. It is spread out 
about us in a great golden ocean, which rises and falls 
in billows as the wind sweeps over it. We see more and 
more grain as we go on with our journey. We are travel- 
ing through some of the chief bread lands of Europe, lands 
which for centuries have produced the finest of wheat, and 
which are still yielding some of the richest crops of the 
world. We saw something of the product in the great 
flour mills of Budapest. We see more of it in the scores 
of huge barges loaded with grain which are steaming 
slowly on up the river. Many of them carry as much as 
five hundred tons of wheat. They have double rudders, 
and high carved red and blue prows ; some are roofed over 
so that they look like floating houses. Each barge has a 
family or two living in it, and the children sit on the roofs 
and stare at us as we go by. See that barge we are now 
passing ; it is poled and rowed along by men, and behind 



ON THE LOWER DANUBE. 303 

come three others towed by a steam tug. Some of the 
barges have their own engines to move them. There are 
also other steam vessels laden with wheat, and in fact a 
steady line of grain ships is always moving to and fro on 
the Danube. 

There on the right are barges at anchor. I mean those 
two not far from the shore, with the great wheel between 
them. See! the wheel is rapidly turning, moved around 
by the swift-flowing current. That is one of the famous 




A Floating Flour Mill. 

floating flour mills of the Danube; they are anchored in 
it here and there throughout the wheat belt. The large 
barge contains the grinding machinery, which is moved 
by the paddle wheel. You can see the white-faced miller 
in his dusty clothes standing there at its stern. The 
small barge is merely a support for the other end of the 
wheel. 

Now look beyond the mill to the banks. See the ox 
carts which are coming up loaded with wheat. There on 
the edge of the water men are throwing the bags into a 
boat ; they will soon row them out to the mill, and when 
the grain has been ground, will take back the flour. By 
and by the mill may be floated down the river to some 
other wheat region, and there go on with its grinding. 



304 



SERVIA, BULGARIA, AND ROUMANIA. 



See that town farther on where the farmers are thresh- 
ing. It has stacks of straw about its flat, hard, earthen 
threshing floor. The men are pounding the grain out with 
flails. At one side they are driving some cattle about over 
the wheat that the beasts may tread out the grain. Such 
threshing places are common along the banks of the 
Danube. The people bring their crops to one place and 
thresh out the grain, bagging it up and shipping it on the 
targes and steamers which stop there for cargo. 

We see similar work going on as we float down past 
Servia, Bulgaria, and Roumania, save that the farming is 
much ruder in Servia than in Hungary. There are very 
few reaping and mowing machines anywhere. The grain 

is cut with scythes, a score 
or more of men moving 
along in a row through the 
fields, while as many women 
follow behind, binding the 
sheaves. 

Almost as important as 
the grain are the immense 
herds of horses, pigs, cattle, 
and sheep which are found 
everywhere along the lower 
Danube from Budapest to 
the sea. See that immense 
flock of sheep over there 
on the left bank. The man 
standing among them, lean- 
ing on his crook, is the shepherd. He is dressed in sheep- 
skin clothing, and wears a pair of high boots. Farther on 
is a drove of hogs watched by a swineherd, and on the 
opposite bank are cattle and horses under the care of 




He is dressed in sheepskin 
clothing." 



ON THE LOWER DANUBE. 305 

Hungarian cowboys. Those little straw huts are where 
they take shelter in stormy weather. 

The cowboys of the Danube are quite as lively as those 
of our Western plains. They are high-spirited fellows, 
and when they come into town for a holiday they discard 
their sheepskin jackets, and wear the gayest of clothing. 
They have silk sashes about their waists and overcoats 
embroidered with flowers, while their hats are often deco- 
rated with ribbons. They are proud of their horses, and 
on such occasions ornament them with tinkling bells and 
strips of bright silk. 

The towns of the lower Danube are as queer as the 
country. The farmers live in villages and go out to 
work in the fields. The usual village is composed of one 
long street in which there are benches under the trees, 
where the people sit in the evening and gossip. The 
women knit as they talk, and they knit even when they 
rest at their work in the fields. Many of the houses are 
painted white, with blue doors ; their roofs are of red 
tiles or straw thatch. Each house has a fence about it, 
and at the back there are stables with ricks of grain near 
them. On some of the houses the storks have built their 
nests, and we now and then see storks feeding in the 
mud along the banks of the river. 

We float past the mouth of the Theiss River and stay 
over night at Belgrade, the capital of Servia, at the 
mouth of the Save. The Danube forms a part of the 
boundary between Servia and Hungary, and for the next 
day we shall travel along between the two countries. 

Belgrade is situated on a high point at the junction of 
the Save and the Danube. It is a flat town of yellowish 
white houses, which look bare and lonely on the hills 
above the river. We take a walk through the streets 

CARP. EUROPE — 19 



306 



SERVIA, BULGARIA, AND ROUMANIA. 



before going to bed, and meet many men in fez caps, short 
jackets, and white skirts which reach to their knees. Not 
a few carry knives and pistols in their belts, and we 
wonder if it would not be dangerous for us to go about 




"We stay over night at Belgrade." 

alone after dark. There are also people dressed as we 
are, and Turks wearing turbans or caps of red fez, and 
full baggy trousers. 

Not only Servia, but also Rbumania and Bulgaria and 
other countries of this part of Europe, have until recently 
belonged to the Turkish Empire, and we shall see more 
and more Turks as we travel on southward. Belgrade 
has Mohammedan mosques, and so have most of the 
other towns and cities of the Balkan peninsula. 

But who are those fine-looking, queerly-dressed men 
coming toward us ? They have dark faces, long hair, and 



ON THE LOWER DANUBE. 307 

long bushy beards. They wear tall black caps and black 
robes with wide sashes of blue. Those are priests of 
the Greek Orthodox Church, the religion most common 
in this part of the world. It is the principal religion of 
Servia, Bulgaria, and Roumania, and also of Russia and 
Greece. We shall see many, many priests as we go on 
with our travels. 

Servia and Roumania are now independent countries. 
Each has its own king and a Parliament elected by the 
people, and each is rapidly growing in intelligence and 
prosperity. Bulgaria is also practically free, for it elects 
its own prince and Parliament, although the Sultan of 
Turkey must confirm the election of the prince. Servia 
is a little larger than our two states of Vermont and New 
Hampshire ; Roumania is larger than New York, and Bul- 
garia is just about the size of West Virginia. The chief 
business of all these countries is agriculture and stock 
raising, although there is some manufacturing, which will 
probably be increased in the future, as there are coal, iron, 
and other minerals in the mountains. 

We are on the edge of the mountains at Belgrade, and 
we float in and out through the hills as we go on with our 
journey. The Danube narrows and widens. There are 
many rapids, and now and then we pass through great 
canyons. We steam slowly through the gorge of Kazan, 
where the cliffs rise above us for hundreds of feet, and 
where it looks as though the rocks were torn apart 
to let the great river through. 

We say good-by to Hungary at the lively town of 
Orsova (or-so'vo), the last steamer station of that country 
on the Danube, and then go on through the famed Iron 
Gate to the smoother waters below. The Iron Gate is one 
of the most dangerous places in the course of this mighty 



3o8 



SERVIA, BULGARIA, AND ROUMANIA. 



river. It is a ledge of gigantic tooth-shaped rocks, about 
a mile wide, which almost fills the Danube. The tops of 
the rocks rise high above the surface when the river is 
low, and the water seethes and foams as it dashes over 
them. Hundreds of steamers have been wrecked on the 
Iron Gate, and for ages it has been a great obstruction to 
navigation. Within the past few years a canal has been 
cut through it, and now ordinary ships can easily pass. 




The Iron Gate. 

Our journey for a short time after leaving the Iron Gate 
is between Roumania and Servia, and, farther on, through 
Roumania and Bulgaria, between which countries the 
Danube flows on and on, until it branches out into several 
mouths and empties into the Black Sea, on the edge of the 
great Russian Empire. 

There are more signs of thrift in Bulgaria and Rou- 



ON THE LOWER DANUBE. 309 

mania than in Servia. The countries are richer, Roumania 
having some of the richest wheat fields of the European 
continent, while Bulgaria exports a vast deal of Indian 
corn. The people here wear better clothes than in Servia, 
and they seem to be more prosperous and more enterpris- 
ing. Both the Roumanians and the Bulgarians are noted 
for their intelligence and thrift, and the Roumanians 
especially are a fine-looking race, the women being famous 
for their beauty. 

At the Roumanian ports, gypsy bands come to the 
boats and play for us. Roumania is the home of the 
gypsies, although they form but a small part of the popu- 
lation. They have always been a wandering people, living 
in covered wagons and moving about over the country. 
They have curious customs and many a band has its gypsy 
queen. 

Some of the gypsies tell fortunes. They also do manu- 
facturing in a small way, and many are tinkers, blacksmiths, 
and horse traders. In the past they have been despised 
and ill treated, but they now are better off in this part of 
the world on account of the love of the people for music. 
The Roumanian gypsies are natural musicians. Even the 
smaller of the gypsy children play the violin, and the gypsy 
bands are in demand almost everywhere. Many of the 
gypsies leave the valley of the Danube, and we find them 
in all parts of Europe and even in the United States. 

We end our journey on the Danube at Rustchuk, from 
where we make a side trip to the fine large city of Bucha- 
rest, the capital of Roumania, and then take train for 
Varna on the Black Sea, where we get a ship for Odessa, 
in Russia. 






ftBL 



■,BJ«*W» 












Jobruig^T 







—irex 



6 100 200 300 400 



30 Longitude 



East 40 from 



(3io) 



IN ODESSA- 311 

XXXII. IN ODESSA — GENERAL VIEW 
OF RUSSIA. 

GET out your passports and have your keys ready! 
We are at anchor in the harbor of Odessa, and the 
Russian officials are coming aboard. There they are now, 
just inside the gangway, those big, black-bearded men in 
long coats and black caps with the soldiers beside them ! 
We shall have to show them papers from our government 
describing just who we are, before they will permit us to 
land. This custom is universal in Russia. All who enter 
the empire must have passports, and it is impossible to 
travel through the interior without them. We shall be 
asked for our passports at every hotel, and our names will 
be registered at the police stations wherever we stop. We 
may need them when we buy tickets on the railway, and 
also at the post and telegraph offices. Even the natives 
must have passports when they leave home, for records are 
kept of the strangers in every town, so that it is said the 
Czar knows just where every man in his empire sleeps 
every night 

We need our keys to open our baggage, that the 
officers may see that there are no books or papers in it 
containing articles against the government, and also that 
we are not smuggling goods into the country. The Rus- 
sian Empire is so vast and it has so many different kinds 
of people that it is difficult for one man to rule it. It has 
some citizens who would like to overthrow the government, 
and for this reason the officials are always on guard. 

Our passports, however, show that we are good American 
citizens. We are treated politely. The officials merely 
look into our trunks, and within a short time we have 



312 



RUSSIA. 




Drosky. 



received permission to enter the city and are riding in our 
droskies over the paved streets of Odessa to the hotel. H ow 
strange everything is ! We seem to be in a new world. 
The people are different, and even the horses look queer, 
as they trot along with great yokes above them, draw- 
ing all sorts of odd vehi- 
cles. Notice the drosky 
in which we are riding ; 
It is about half as big 
as one of our carriages ; 
its wheels are no larger 
than those of a bicycle, 
and its floor is about a 
foot from the ground. 
A big black horse is 
harnessed to the shafts, 
which end at the front in a yoke rising a foot and a half 
above his neck. There are no tugs ; the shafts are 
fastened to the collar just under the yoke. 

What an odd-looking driver ! He weighs about three 
hundred pounds, and his long navy blue gown, tied with a 
red sash at the waist, makes him look bigger. His hat 
is bell-shaped, and his long black beard hangs far down 
on his breast. He is proud of his size, for to have a fat 
coachman is the sign of prosperity; and it is said that 
many of the gowns of the drosky drivers are padded and 
quilted, and that some even have little pillows inside them 
to make their owners look fat. Our man holds his arms 
straight out in front of him as he drives. He slaps the 
horse with the reins to make him go faster, and stops him 
by saying " burr-r " instead of " whoa." 

Now look at the people on the streets. What a variety 
of curious costumes ! Odessa is the chief city of southern 



IN ODESSA. 



313 




Russia, and men from all the countries about come here to 
trade. There are Turks and Armenians in fez caps and 
dark clothes ; there are Greek sailors wearing gay jackets, 
white petticoats, and red shoes turned up at the toes ; 
there are fierce-looking Circassians in high caps of astra- 
khan fur, and merchants 
from Persia in turbans 
and gowns. There are 
Russians everywhere. 
We know them by their 
big frames and fine faces. 
The men are tall and 
broad - shouldered, and 
most of them have long, 
thick beards. The women 
are tall, handsome, and 
stately. Many are very " ^^ a variet y of curious costumes ! ■■ 
well dressed, although the peasant women wear rough 
shoes, bright cotton gowns, and have handkerchiefs bound 
around their heads. 

What a lot of caps, long coats, and top boots. Every 
man and boy is thus clad. The soldiers wear caps, the 
officers wear caps, and so do the common people; even 
little boys have visored caps and overcoats just like their 
fathers', and some very little girls wear caps of bright silk. 

How queer the stores are. The signs are in the strange 
Russian letters, so different from ours that we cannot tell 
what they mean. There is a newsboy crying his papers. 
The printing upon them looks as strange as the Chinese 
characters on tea boxes, and we cannot understand the 
jargon he utters. We can't talk even with our driver, and 
are glad when we reach the hotel, where the porter speaks 
English. He acts as our interpreter, giving us our rooms 



314 



RUSSIA. 



and arranging our meals. Next day we take a guide and 
explore Odessa. It is the chief grain port of south Rus- 
sia, and has a vast trade. We visit the wharves and the 
chief business sections, and then take the train for our 
long ride through Russia in Europe. 




Palace of Justice, Odessa. 

Russia is by far the largest country in Europe, and one 
of the largest of the whole world. The Russians have 
more land than any other nation except the British. 
They own more than half of all Europe, and considerably 
more than one third of all Asia. Their possessions in 
Asia are almost as big as the whole of South America, 
and in Europe they have two thirds as much land as the 
United States without Alaska, the Philippines, and Porto 
Rico. Altogether they have more than one seventh of all 
the land surface of the globe. 

Our travels at present are to be confined to Russia in 



GENERAL VIEW OF RUSSIA. 



315 



Europe, and even this is so vast, as we see by the space it 
has on the map, that we might travel a year and not visit 
every part of it. Still, a rapid run through it, stopping in 
the great cities, and spending some time in the villages 
and on the farms, will give us a good idea of the country 
and people. 

Let us first take a bird's-eye view of European Russia. 
It consists of a vast plain hemmed in by the Ural 
Mountains on the east, and by the Baltic Sea, Germany 
Austria-Hungary, and Roumania on the west, extending 
from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, 
and nowhere having any hills over eleven hundred feet 
high. The chief hills, except those at the extreme south, 
lie just north of the center of Russia, where the land rises, 
making a watershed from which the rivers flow north and 
south, furnishing water to the most of the plain, and giving 
a cheap means of carrying 
goods from one part of it to 
another. Many of the rivers 
are connected by canals, and, 
as we shall see later, the 
country has an excellent 
system of commercial water 
ways. 

If a bird should start at 
the Arctic Ocean and fly 
clear across Russia to get 
the view we are taking, it 
would start upon a coast 
which is bordered with vast 
morasses or cold swamps 
called tundras. Everything there is bleak and dreary, the 
trees are stunted, and the only human beings to be seen 




— live in bark tents." 



316 RUSSIA. 

are the strange Lapps and Samoyedes, semisavages with 
light yellow faces, high cheek bones and eyes somewhat 
slanting. They live in bark tents and look not unlike the 
Laplanders we saw in Norway, and they have much the 
same habits, roaming about with their reindeer, grazing them 
on the mosses and the lichens which grow on the tundras. 

Passing this region, the bird would fly southward for 
hundreds upon hundreds of miles over vast forests. It 
would go for days over nothing but trees, trees, trees. 
Now and then it might see a bear, a deer, or a wolf, but 
seldom anything human. In this forest zone of Russia 
there are thousands of square miles which are entirely 
uninhabited, where there are no railroads, and where all 
nature is as wild as it was in our country in the days when 
the Indians owned it. At the north the trees are chiefly 
stunted pines, but farther south there are magnificent 
beeches, firs, and other valuable timber. The forests 
cover two fifths of the country, extending, with some 
clearings here and there even as far south as Moscow. 

Coming out of tha trees our bird would next pass over a 
well-populated region which produces vast quantities of 
barley, flax, and hemp, and then enter the third zone, the 
famous black earth zone of Russia. This is a vast plain 
which stretches from the Carpathian Mountains clear 
across to the Urals, and which is covered with some of the 
richest soil on the face of the globe. The land is a thick 
sheet of black earth, a sort of half mold, from three to 
twenty feet deep, so rich that it has yielded good crops of 
wheat for many generations without fertilization. This is 
the best part of Russia and the chief source of its wealth, 
producing large quantities of grain for export. The coun- 
try here is well populated. It has cities and towns and 
countless farm villages. 



GENERAL VIEW OF RUSSIA. 317 

Beyond this there are lands producing Indian corn, and 
farther south, bordering on the edge of the Caucasus 
Mountains and the Black and the Caspian seas, are other 
plains, or steppes, which are not so rich, but upon which 
wild grasses grow in great luxuriance, where vast herds of 
horses, cattle, and sheep are to be seen. Such is a rough 
idea of European Russia : great flat plains of cold swamps, 
of mighty forests, of rich farms and pastures, of a few 
large cities, and a vast number of villages. 

We shall visit the chief cities later on. Odessa is about 
as large as Detroit; so, too, is Kief just north of it, on the 
Dnieper, surrounded by a rich farming country ; Warsaw 
in Poland is bigger than St. Louis; and Lodz than Cin- 
cinnati; while Riga is of about the size of Minneapolis. 
St. Petersburg has more people than Philadelphia, and 
Moscow is almost as large. In addition to these important 
places, there are other cities ranging in size from three 
hundred thousand to fifty thousand, and there are many 
still smaller. 

But we shall see all this better as we go on with our 
travels. Russia has the longest railroads in the world, and 
there are steamers on all the chief rivers, so that we can 
visit the principal parts of the country. Our train from 
Odessa takes us rapidly northward. The road is smooth 
and well built ; the track is as well kept as our gardens. 
We often see women on their knees pulling the grass 
from between the ties, and every few miles there are men 
working on the railroad. 

At each road crossing a barefooted, bareheaded peas- 
ant girl in a dress of bright colors stands waving a flag 
to warn the people back while the train passes ; and 
at every station a tall guard in uniform, with a pistol on 
his hip and a long sword at his side, walks up and down 



318 RUSSIA. 

the platform. He is the representative of the Czar, and 
he wears the Czar's uniform : a red cap with a tall feather 
in it, a long overcoat, and high boots with spurs. 

There are many things about the trains that are dif- 
ferent from ours. Look out as we go around this curve, 
and see the dense black smoke pouring out of the engine. 
That comes from the petroleum which is used as fuel, 
because the oil fields about the Caspian Sea make it 
cheaper than coal in this treeless region. Farther north, 
in the forest zone, the smoke will become a light blue, for 
our locomotive will make steam with wood. We shall have 
great racks filled with wood just back of the engine ; it 
will keep two firemen busy throwing it into the furnaces, 
while at every few stations we shall see acres of wood 
piles. 

Our cars are by no means uncomfortable. We are 
riding first class on an express train. We have seats near 
the windows, and our fellow passengers are officials and 
well-to-do Russians, many of whom speak English and 
tell us much of their country and people. 

Every now and then we pass a slower train, largely 
composed of second and third class cars. The second 
class cars are more cheaply furnished than those of the 
first class ; they are patronized by the merchants and the 
richer of the common people. The third class cars are 
not much better than cattle cars. The seats are rude 
benches, and they are crowded with peasants. 

Notice that train which is waiting there on the side 
track! It is filled with long-bearded, shock-haired men 
in rough cotton clothes, and with women in short cotton 
gowns of bright colors, with shawls and handkerchiefs 
tied around their heads. The men wear caps, and they 
have boots of felt or leather ; the shoes of many of the 



GENERAL VIEW OF RUSSIA. 



3*9 



women are of straw, and in place of stockings they have 
rags tied around their legs. Each man has a great bundle 
beside him or under his feet ; that is his baggage. In the 
third class the most of the baggage is taken into the cars. 
At some of the depots we see the people using their bundles 
as pillows, sleeping on the stones while they wait for the 
train. 

Take a look at the station where our train is stopping. 
It has a stone platform, and the building is large and well 
kept ; that bell against the wall is for starting the train. 
The station has an excellent restaurant. The Russians 
are fond of good living. They are always eating ; and 
tea, cake, and fruit are brought to our window at every 
station. 

The tea is served in glass tumblers, with two or three 
lumps of sugar and a slice of lemon, but without milk. We 
try to drink it in the approved 
Russian fashion. We squeeze 
the lemon into the tea, and then, 
putting the hard sugar lump be- 
tween our teeth, slowly suck the 
tea through it. It tastes good, 
but we soon go back to our old 
way of drinking, for the custom 
ruins the teeth, and we notice 
that many Russians on this ac- 
count have teeth which are badly 
decayed. The Russians drink 
more tea perhaps than any other 
people, and every family has its 
samovar filled with hot water. 
The samovar is a brass urn with a pipe running through its 
center, in which burning charcoal keeps the water hot, so 




The Russians drink more 
tea perhaps than any other 
people." 



320 



RUSSIA. 



that, by turning a spigot, fresh tea can be made at any 
time of the day. There are samovars at all the stations, 
and the tea peddlers behind them 
are long-haired, long-bearded men, 
with faces as rosy, fat, and jolly as 
that of old Santa Claus. 

We are a long time crossing the 
steppes of southern Russia. We 
pass vast herds of cattle and horses 
watched by Russian cowboys, and 
see large flocks of sheep, some of 
which are tended by women and 
children. Now we go through a re- 
gion of vineyards, and again through fields of Indian corn, 
barley, and rye. 

As we travel northward, the country grows better and 
the land more densely populated, until at last we reach 
the black earth zone. We are now in the granary of 
Russia, which produces a large part of the food of the 
empire, and which in good seasons grows so much wheat 
that it forms our chief competitor in the food markets of 
Europe. 




A Samovar. 



*Oic 



XXXIII. THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS — A 
NATION OF VILLAGES. 



WE are now in the great black plain, in one of the 
regions where we can best study the people of 
Russia. This vast empire may be compared to a huge 
farm ; for the Russians are largely a nation of farmers. 
The Russian people are made up of the emperor and his 
officials, of comparatively few nobles, of a few million 



THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS. 32 1 

merchants and artisans who dwell in the cities, and a 
vast number of peasants, living in villages surrounded by 
farms. The most important part of Russia is village 
Russia. The country contains about one hundred mil- 
lion peasants, who live in five hundred thousand vil- 




A Peasant Family. 

lages. Let us stop a moment and try to realize what this 
means. There are so many of these peasants that if all 
the men, women, and children of all the world could be 
gathered into one place, one in every fifteen would be a 
Russian peasant farmer. 

In our ride to the black earth zone from Odessa we have 
not seen a single house by itself in the fields. There were 



322 RUSSIA. 

no fences marking off the farms as in America, and no 
barns nor haystacks standing alone. Excepting the cow- 
boys and the shepherdesses watching the flocks, we did 
not see a person alone in the fields. The people were 
working in gangs of from half a dozen to a hundred, 
going out together in the morning, and coming back in the 
same way at night. At every few miles we passed little 
groups of thatched huts, and we could see other huts in 
groups dotting the country on both sides the track. Each 
collection of huts was a Russian village, a type of the 
thousands of villages in all parts of European Russia, and 
even in the newest settlements of Siberia as well. 

But let us get off at this station and visit one of the 
villages. That man over there in the long overcoat, cap, 
high boots, and sword is the government guard. He puts 
his hand to his cap and makes a military salute as we 
accost him. He gives our guide the proper directions, 
and within a short time we are driving at full speed over 
the fields. 

Our vehicle is a sort of boatlike tub on wheels, to which 
three horses are fastened. One horse is inside the shafts, 
and the others, one on each side, are hitched to bars which 
extend from the ends of the axle of the front wheels. The 
carriage and team look sorry enough, and we get in with 
much fear and trembling. We have hardly taken our 
seats, however, before the driver cracks his whip, and the 
horses go off at great speed. The one in the shafts trots 
at a four-minute pace, and those outside go on the gallop, 
so that we fairly fly through the air. 

The road is right over the fields, and we drive through 
green and yellow oceans of rye and wheat, which are mov- 
ing up and down in billows under the winds. We cross 
long fields of yellow sunflowers, and go on through meadows 



THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS. 



323 



rs 



where hundreds of sheep are feeding, watched by shepherds 
who lean on their staffs and gaze at us in wonder. 

At last we come to our village. It has but one long 
street lined with straggling thatched huts. There are no 
sidewalks, and the street is a wide grass plot, except in the 
middle, where the carts have cut deep ruts in the earth. 
There are trees here and there on each side of the roadway. 
Under one of them a woman is knitting, with her chil- 
dren about her ; she has tied a box in which lies her baby 
to one of the branches 
above her, and she swings 
it now and then as she 
works. Farther down on 
the other side of the 
street are some frowsy- 
headed, bare-footed boys 
and girls playing. As we 
stop, they stand and stare 
at us, while the dogs run 
out and bark, showing 
their teeth. 

Take a look at the huts ! 
Few of them have gar- 
dens about them. There 
are no fences to shut them 
off from their neighbors or from the road. The average 
home is a one-story log cabin, about twenty feet square, 
roofed with straw thatch about a foot and a half thick. 
Where wood is scarce the huts are often made of woven 
twigs plastered with mud. A few of the larger houses 
have barns or stables joined to them in an L at the rear, 
so that the animals and people live under the same roof. 

Let us enter one of the little homes ! They are all made 




she swings it now and then as 
she works." 



CARP. EUROPE — 20 



324 



RUSSIA. 



the same way, each having two rooms and a loft. We first 
go into an anteroom which is used as a storeroom and stable. 
There is harness hanging upon the walls, farming tools lie 
upon the floor, and bags of corn are piled up in a corner. 
A chicken runs between our legs as we enter, and a calf 
at the back looks as though it might do the same. 





.a^M^rSHB 


■;■■■ :'-., A ~~~Z jl 




* ' t 


* """--.-^ Wm' 1 ■• ^^B 








'.] 


" """ f 



"The average home is a one-story log cabin/' 

Passing through this room, we reach the other room cf 
the house. Indeed, it might be called the only room, for the 
first is little more than a vestibule, while this room serves 
as kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and parlor. At one side 
of it there is a brick stove, or oven and chimney combined, 
so built up from the floor that there is a ledge four feet wide 



THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS. 



325 



and about six feet long just over the oven and under the 
ceiling. In the oven the cooking is done, and that ledge 
above it is the common bed of the family. There in the 
winter as many as can crawl in and sleep on the hot bricks, 
while the others lie 
on the floor. There 
are no bedsteads, 
and little or no bed 
clothing. The 
whole family hud- 
dle together like so 
many sheep : men 
and women, boys 
and girls, babies 
and grandparents, 
all bunched in to- 




this room serves as kitchen, dining room, 
bedroom, and parlor." 



gether. They sleep in the same clothes they wear in the 
daytime, and rely largely upon their own animal heat and 
the oven to keep themselves warm. 

As we enter, our host asks us to be seated, and we look 
around for chairs. There are only two to be seen, but we 
take seats on the benches which run around the wall. 
There is a bare table at one side of the room, and the man 
asks us to stay and have dinner with him. We do so, and 
watch his wife lay the table. She does this very quickly, 
for they use no tablecloth, and no plates, knives, or forks. 
All she does is to put a wooden basin, about as big as a 
common tin washbasin, filled with cabbage soup, in the 
center of the board, and lay some wooden spoons beside 
it. We are hungry after our jolting ride over the fields, 
and the soup gives forth an appetizing odor as it smokes 
away on the table. The woman now motions us to draw 
up our benches. We sit down with the, family. We are 



326 RUSSIA. 

each given a wooden spoon about as big as the largest 
tablespoon, and are told to dip in. We are at a loss how 
to begin until our host puts in his spoon and conveys some 
soup to his mouth. We do likewise, each dipping in turn 
until the basin is empty. In addition to the soup we each 
have black bread and raw cucumbers. There is no butter, 
and the meal seems plain and scanty, after our luxurious liv- 
ing at the Russian hotels. Still, such is the common every- 
day food of millions of Russians. Some of the peasants 
have cows and chickens, and hence milk and eggs. Now 
and then they may have a little fish or meat, but as a rule, 
if they have cabbage soup and bread, they think they do 
very well. We are surprised to find how many people 
live in one hut ; sometimes as many as twelve live in one 
room. 

^The most of the Russian peasants are poor and very 
few save money. They do not seem to care for the future, 
and live from hand to mouth ; so that if a bad season 
occurs, a famine ensues and they die by the thousand. If 
you tell them they should save, for bad times may come, 
they will say, " Oh ! God and the Czar will provide ! " 

The Russian peasants have but few wants. If a man 
has a suit of sheepskin for the winter and of cotton for 
the summer, with perhaps an extra suit for Sundays and 
holidays, he is quite content. In the hot weather he wears 
a red calico shirt outside his white or blue cotton trousers. 
The trousers are fastened by a string around the waist, and 
are often bound in just below the knees with rags, which, 
wrapped round and round the legs and feet, serve also for 
stockings. The richer peasants wear leather boots and 
long overcoats of cloth or skin. The poor have felt 
boots for winter, and slippers of woven grass or bark for 
summer. The woman's dress consists chiefly of a bright- 



THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS. 



327 



<:4J3 



colored handkerchief, which is tied round the head so that 
one corner falls down over the neck at the back, a loose 
gown of white, red, or blue cot- 
ton, cut low at the neck, which 
reaches almost to her ankles, 
and an apron gathered in at the 
waist and extending down to 
her knees. A pair of rag stock- 
ings and straw or bark shoes 
completes the costume. The 
dress of both women and men 
varies considerably in different 
parts of the empire. 

One of the oddest things in 
our village is the bath house. 
The peasants do not wash often, 
but when they do they boil or 
steam themselves clean. They 
get into an ovenlike bath house, 
which is filled with steam, and remain there until they 
have perspired the dirt out of their pores. They look par- 
boiled when they come out, but the steam makes them 
really much cleaner than a bath in warm water would. 
In the cities there are large public baths containing many 
steam rooms. 

The peasants are very religious. We shall find churches 
in every district, and in every hut we enter a candle is 
burning away under an icon (l'kon) or a painting of the 
Savior, the Virgin Mary, or one of the saints. The 
peasant always says a prayer when he starts out to work. 
He says a prayer and crosses himself whenever he passes 
a church, and he crosses himself when he stops work to go 
home. He would not think of living in a house without 




328 



RUSSIA. 



one of the holy pictures on his walls, and he often makes 
pilgrimages to shrines and churches which are considered 
especially sacred. 

The most of the peasants are uneducated. Very few of 
them can read and write, although of late schools for peasant 
children have been established in the different parts of the 
empire. The peasants are much like children. They 







••' ' '-. : * 1 ' < * 


4- ; w-B| 


fJjNHffiJw*' V^ 3 t$L > %Hj3 



" — schools for peasant children have been established." 

call the Czar father, and look up to him with reverence. 
They were for a long time in a state of serfdom to the 
nobles ; they were almost the same as slaves, and it was 
only at about the time of our Civil War that the Czar 
made them free. They are gradually growing more and 
more independent, and at some time will probably form 
a very strong and great nation. 

The peasants own about one third of the cultivated 
lands of Russia, but they hold this land in a curious way. 
In the United States every farmer has his own farm, and 



THE RUSSIAN PEASANTS. 329 

he plants his crops and pays his taxes without asking 
questions of any one. In Russia each village owns a large 
block of land in common, and the taxes are paid by the 
village and not by the individual. 

Each village is known as a mir. This word means 
"world," for each village is a little world in itself. The 
mir is supposed to own the houses and lands of the village, 
and to divide them up among the people from year to 
year, each person having an equal right to the whole. 
Every family keeps its house and a little strip of ground, 
but the lands outside are divided among, and farmed by, 
the people in common. This is the reason we saw no one 
working alone in the fields. The men, women, and older 
children all go out together to sow, reap, and bring in the 
crops. 

The village authorities fix the times for sowing and 
reaping ; they appoint leaders for the people at work and 
say just when to begin. The villagers elect their own 
officers, and as to local matters, they govern themselves. 
They choose their own judges and policemen, and can 
punish wrong-doers. The village assemblies and elections 
take place in the open air, when the people discuss among 
themselves all matters relating to their crops and their 
government. 

Several such villages constitute a volost, containing 
about two thousand householders, each village electing 
members to the district council, which chooses the officers 
for the district. The districts of each province in turn 
send representatives to a provincial assembly composed 
of not only the peasants, but the nobles as well. All are 
elected, so you see the Russians largely govern them- 
selves; although the Czar appoints the governors of the 
provinces, and his authority is over all. 



330 RUSSIA. 

The Russian peasants are very fond of this village 
system, and a man will not leave his mir, for he does not 
want to lose his right to the property owned by his vil- 
lage. If he can save money, he can buy lands outside 
this, but, as a rule, the peasants have only the lands which 
they hold in common. 



XXXIV. IN ST. PETERSBURG. 

STAND with me on the dome of Saint Isaac's cathe- 
dral, and take a look at the great city of St. Peters- 
burg. We have been traveling for days to the northward, 
and are at last in the capital of the Russian Empire, on 
the Neva River ? not far from the Baltic. We have driven 
in our droskies from our hotel down the Nevski Prospekt, 
the chief street of the city, and along the banks of the 
Neva, to this mighty church. We have climbed around 
and around, up the five hundred steps inside its dome, and 
we now stand on its topmost point, three hundred feet 
above the earth, in one of the most curious cities of the 
world. Below us, on every side, extends a vast plain of 
houses, cut up by the great River Neva and the many 
canals. Off in the distance, at the west, we can see the 
fortifications of Kronstadt at the mouth of the river, on 
the Gulf of Finland, and in front of us are beautiful 
islands dotted with the homes of the nobles, while at our 
back, both to the right and the left, stretches the city. 
The country about is composed of swamps and morasses. 
There are green woods and fields to be seen here and 
there, and everywhere the silvery river and canals sparkle 
under the rays of the sun. 

The city is a vast plain of two, three, and four story 



IN ST. PETERSBURG. 33 1 

houses, built of brick or stone, plastered with yellow 
stucco, and roofed with iron plates painted dark brown. 
It is laid out in acute angles ; and here, from the dome 
of Saint Isaac's, it looks like an immense crazy quilt of 
brown diamond-shaped patches, sewed together with white 
streets, and tied with knots of white chimneys. 

What a lot of chimneys ! There are hundreds to 
every square, and every house is dotted with them. St, 
Petersburg is far to the northward. It is covered with 
ice and snow throughout the winter, and the sparks fly 
up those chimneys from November until May. It is so 
cold that the houses have double windows, and every 
room has its enormous porcelain stove, such as we saw in 
Berlin. 

Notice how solidly the city is built, and what a space 
each building covers. The Neva is walled with stones, 
and the great houses seem founded on rocks. They are 
so large that they cover a mighty area. That crazy quilt 
is twenty-five miles in circumference, and many of its 
blocklike patches are as big as a good-sized farm. The 
vast houses are built in flats or apartments, as in Paris, 
Berlin, and Vienna ; but the rooms are much larger and 
the buildings cover more space. 

Here and there we can see a great palace belong- 
ing to one of the nobles. That red structure on the 
banks of the Neva, at the end of the Nevski Prospekt, 
is the Winter Palace, where the emperor holds his recep- 
tions. It has rooms which are larger than a good-sized 
house, and its halls are so wide that you could turn a four- 
horse wagon load of hay inside them without touching the 
walls. It has so many rooms that the emperor does not 
know what is going on in all of them ; and it is said that 
the servants once rented some of them as a stable, and that, 



332 



RUSSIA. 



when a great fire occurred, a cow and a goat were dragged 
out with the furniture. 

Now let your eyes run along the Nevski Prospekt. That 
is the widest avenue of St. Petersburg, and its chief business 
street. Many of the enormous buildings upon it are pal- 
aces ; others are stores and great bazaars, which are filled 




The Winter Palace. 

with hundreds of merchants. On the opposite side of the 
Neva you can see immense wholesale houses extending 
for miles along the quays, while the river and its canals, 
filled with shipping, make you think of the views from the 
tower of the palace in Amsterdam. 

But what are those immense golden mounds which 
rise above the buildings in different parts of the city? 
Some have tall spires, painted in the brightest of 



IN ST. PETERSBURG. 



333 



colors. Those are Russian churches and cathedrals. 
They are among the grandest of Europe, some having 
cost many millions of dollars. Notice this church of 
Saint Isaac's, upon which we are standing. Its dome 
is almost as big as that of the Capitol at Washington; 
and it is made of copper, plated with gold. It took two 
hundred pounds of solid gold to cover it, and the cathedral 
itself has cost about twenty million dollars. 








" Now let your eyes run along the Nevski Prospekt." 

Let us descend and go through the church. It is like 
walking through a museum, it has so many beautiful 
things in marble, precious stones, and gold carvings. The 
cathedral floor covers almost two acres. It is of many 
colored marbles, and the walls are of marble inlaid with 
gold carvings. Only a rich man in America can own a 
table of malachite, and we sometimes see jewel boxes and 



334 Russia. 

breastpins of that precious stone. In Saint Isaac's, on the 
two sides of the altar, there are eight columns of malachite, 
each us high as a three-story house ; there are also two 
pillars of lapis lazuli, while the fence about the altar is of 
golden posts, set into a railing of the purest white marble. 
The Kazan cathedral, not far away, has a balustrade of 




Saint Isaac's Cathedral. 

solid silver about its altar; while the cathedral of Saint 
Peter and Saint Paul blazes with gold, and its mighty 
golden spire can be seen for miles around. 

There are scores of other churches here in St. Peters- 
burg. There are chapels in all parts of the city, and it is 
the same in the other great cities of Russia. Wherever 
we go, all over the country, we shall find churches and 
chapels. The Russians are very religious. It is the same 
in the large towns as we found it in the villages. Every 




IN ST. PETERSBURG. 335 

man has a picture of the Savior, of the Virgin Mary, or 
of a saint in his house, and every person crosses himself 
and says his prayers many times a day. 

The chief religion of Russia is that of the Greek Ortho- 
dox Church. The emperor himself is the head of the 
Church, and there are priests by the thou- 
sands all over the country. They dress in 
black gowns, wear their hair long, and have 
high caps on their heads. They are appointed 
by the emperor in connection with the Holy 
Synod, which aids him in managing the 
Church. 

There are, however, other churches in Rus- 
sia, for the empire is so vast that it has all 
sorts of religions. It has many Roman Catho- 
lics, and in Finland many Lutherans. There 
are numerous Mohammedans along the Volga " The y dress ™ 
and in southern Russia, and hundreds of thou- 
sands of Jews in western Russia and Poland. There are 
Chinese Confucianists and Buddhists in the east, and in 
the Caucasus Mountains there are many Armenians. 

From Saint Isaac's cathedral we take droskies and drive 
to the great government buildings. Some of them are 
larger than the biggest department buildings of Wash- 
ington, and as we ride on through one magnificent street 
after another we are more and more amazed at the solidity 
of the great Russian capital. 

And still St. Petersburg is built on a swamp. Its very 
existence is an evidence of the strength of character of 
the Russians. The other great capitals, we have seen, 
have arisen largely from commercial and manufacturing 
reasons growing out of their situation. London is at the 
head of navigation of the Thames, Paris is on the Seine 



336 RUSSIA. 

in the center of manufacturing and commercial France, 
Venice grew up on account of the shipping trade of the 
Adriatic, and Amsterdam and Rotterdam were built up 
because they were the commercial centers of the seafaring 
Dutch nation. St. Petersburg was formed at the com- 
mand of Peter the Great, by a people who lived far away 
from it, in the interior, and who had no reason for building 
it except the command of their ruler. 

Peter the Great had traveled through the different 
countries of Europe in order to study how he might better 
govern his people and make the most of the great Russian 
Empire. He visited Holland, and England, and other 
countries, where he saw how the seaports helped build up 
a nation, and how valuable the navy was for its defense. 
While away he learned shipbuilding, and he came back 
determined that his country must have both a seaport and 
a great navy. He could not start his men-of-war out from 
the Black Sea, because he was shut off by Turkey, which 
held then and still holds the Bosporus, the only passage 
out to the Mediterranean. The lands along the Arctic 
Ocean were too far away and too cold, and so he chose 
this place on the Gulf of Finland, at the mouth of the 
Neva. He was not alarmed because it was swampy, nor 
did he fear because it was covered with woods. He 
said to himself, " Here I will erect my seaport and my 
capital ! " 

Peter's command went forth, and at his word like 
magic this great stone city sprang into being. Piles by 
the millions were driven down to make the foundation, the 
river Neva was held back by walls of granite, and every 
Russian subject was called upon to do something to build 
the new capital. Every noble in the land was ordered to 
build a house in St. Petersburg, and every Russian who 



IN ST. PETERSBURG. 



337 



owned five hundred serfs had to put up a two-story house, 
no matter whether he lived on the edge of the Caspian 
Sea or on the border of the Ural Mountains. Every 
vessel on the Russian rivers and every Russian ship on 
the Baltic had to bring a load of stones to aid in building 
the city, and all the peasants near by were ordered to 
help. Forty thousand men were drafted every year to aid 
in the work, and nobles as well as peasants dug out the 




■the emperor lived in a little house by the river.' 



foundations and built up the houses. Even the criminals 
from prisons were made to toil here under the guns of the 
guards ; and through it all the emperor lived in a little 
house by the river and watched the building. 

This house still stands, and we drive across the Neva to 
see it. It is so small that it would hardly be noticed if it 
were placed in the great ballroom of the Winter Palace. 
It contains two rooms and a kitchen, and is not unlike 
one of the cabins of our forests of Wisconsin and Michigan. 



338 Russia. 

The Russians reverence it as the home of their great em- 
peror, and they have built another house over it, that it 
may withstand the weather. As we walk through it, we 
can hardly realize that when it was built, less than two 
hundred years ago, the wolves howled in the woods all 
about it, and that now more than one hundred million 
people look upon it as the chief place upon earth. 

Leaving this lowly hut, we again cross the Neva to visit 
the palaces and government departments, and learn more 
about the Russia of to-day. We find that the emperor 
has still, nominally, almost as much power as had Peter 
the Great; although in reality he rules largely through 
his cabinet ministers and state council representing the 
provinces. We have learned that there are seventy-nine 
states in the Russian Empire, each of which has some 
officials appointed by the Czar, but most of which are 
more largely ruled by the people themselves. We learn 
that the empire contains the enormous number of about 
one hundred and thirty million people, and of these more 
than one hundred millions live in Russia. The European 
Russians are chiefly of the Slav race, but there are many 
other races in different parts of the country, and more 
than thirty different peoples in the Caucasus alone. 

At the War and Navy Departments we are shown that 
the Russians have a great navy, and that their army is one 
of the strongest of the world ; and at other offices are told 
that the government is doing its best to develop the enor- 
mous natural resources of the empire by building railroads, 
opening mines, and encouraging the people in all sorts of 
manufacture and trade. 

Russia is also rapidly developing its vast possessions 
outside Europe. Railroads are building in Siberia and 
central Asia, which have opened up rich territories in that 



IN ST. PETERSBURG. 339 

continent. Mines of gold, silver, iron, and coal are being 
worked, and vast tracts of grain and cotton are cultivated. 
Many thousand Russian peasants emigrate to these coun- 
tries every year, so that in time much of Asia will be 
populated by the Slav race. 

We make excursions north into Finland, traveling 
through the woods, by hundreds of beautiful lakes ; and 
also along the coast, where there are fiords like those of 
Scandinavia. The inhabitants remind us of the Swedes, 
although there are some people in the extreme north, known 
as Finns, who are of the yellow race. The people — Fin- 
landers — everywhere are different from the Russians, 
although they are ruled by the Czar, who has the title of 
the Grand Duke of Finland. They have a senate at Hel- 
singf ors, where they make their own laws and have to some 
extent a government of their own. 

The Finlanders are chiefly farmers, dairymen, and lum- 
bermen. They are far more thrifty and better educated 
than the Russians. They have neat villages made of log 
cabins, and some fine cities such as Helsingfors, the capital, 
which lies on the Gulf of Finland, having an excellent 
harbor. 

Another trip takes us to Warsaw, on the Vistula, in Rus- 
sian Poland. Here the inhabitants are almost all Poles. 
They are a high-spirited people who for a long time had a 
kingdom of their own. They had some of the best lands 
of Europe, but the Russians and Prussians, who coveted 
their property, made war upon them and conquered them, 
and divided up Poland, so that Russia now has here a state 
about as large as New York with a soil fully as rich. The 
Poles still keep their own language and customs, but they 
are ruled by the Czar. They have many large towns, Warsaw 
being the third city in size of the whole Russian Empire. 

CARP. EUROPE — 21 



34Q 



RUSSIA. 



XXXV. MOSCOW— COMMERCIAL AND 
MANUFACTURING RUSSIA. 

A DAY'S ride from Warsaw has brought us to Moscow, 
the commercial capital of the great Russian Empire. 
The city stands right in the heart of European Russia, on 




Moscow. 

the navigable Moscow River, which connects it with the 
Oka and Volga. It has easy access by rail to the Don, 
Dnieper, and Dwina rivers, and is so situated that it is 
the chief railroad center of Russia. It is in the most 
densely populated part of the empire, and its situation 
especially fits it for the center of Russian manufacture 
and trade. It has more than a thousand factories in and 



MOSCOW. 341 

about it, and the smokestacks rise here and there above 
the city, rivaling in height the golden spires of its churches. 
The factories employ more than a quarter of a million work- 
men, and turn out a product worth several hundred million 
dollars per year. 

A great quantity of goods of all kinds is required to supply 
the vast population of Russia, and the factories are rapidly 
growing in number. There are now more than a hundred 
thousand in the empire, and more are being built. There 
are many cotton, linen, woolen, and flour mills in Russian 
Poland ; there are factories of all kinds in St. Petersburg, 
and also in Odessa, and along the Volga River; while there 
are many little silk mills in the Caucasus Mountains. Not 
far south of Moscow is Tula, the Sheffield of Russia, where 
are the great gun factories which supply the Russian army, 
and enormous railroad shops and works for making knives, 
tools, and machinery. In Moscow there are vast cotton 
mills, sugar mills, and establishments which turn out almost 
everything made of wood, iron, and steel. 

The chief workshops of Russia, however, are in the 
homes of the people, the product made there annually 
amounting in value to more than five hundred million dol- 
lars. Six sevenths of all the goods made are the result of 
such house industry, for the peasants are everywhere 
working at their trades in their homes. Nearly every 
Russian village has its specialty. In some the people spin 
yarn and weave cloth, and in others they make boots and 
shoes. There are towns along the Volga which turn out 
fine axes and knives ; just outside Moscow is a village 
whose people are noted for beating gold leaf, while near 
Tula there are two thousand people who work away in 
their little houses making accordions. In southern Russia 
rugs and carpets as beautiful as those of India and Turkey 



342 RUSSIA. 

are woven by hand, and in central Russia there are many 
thousands who paint icons or pictures of saints, such as we 
have seen in the houses and stores with candles and in- 
cense burning below them. These icons are cut out of 
plates of carved gold, silver, or brass, only the faces being 
painted. They are of all sizes and prices, from little ones 
no bigger than a watch, which sell for a few cents, up to 
some as big as a barn door, worth thousands of dollars. 
There are stores in Moscow which sell nothing else, and 
we can find icon stores in all the large cities. 

There are some villages in Russia where the people 
make a business of raising canaries for sale, and 
some where they raise cats for their skins. The cats 
bring five or ten cents apiece ; they are bought by travel- 
ing merchants, who ship their skins to the fur markets 
of the empire. In other villages pigeons are bred for 
their skins, which are cured with the feathers on, and 
sold at the fairs to be exported to all parts of Europe 
and our country, for decorating ladies' hats and lining 
fine cloaks. 

You have all heard of Russian leather. It is prized 
everywhere for pocketbooks, valises, slippers, and book 
bindings. It has a delightful odor from the birch bark 
employed by the tanners. Much of it is made in small 
tanneries, and there are hundreds of thousands engaged 
at their homes making various articles from it, both for 
export and for sale to the Russians. In some parts of the 
empire the women wear high boots of soft leather, and 
every Russian man who can afford it has at least one pair 
of boots which come up to his knees. There are thousands 
of women who knit beautiful lace, and Russian velvets 
are noted all over Europe. 

The Russians are skillful in making all sorts of things, 



Moscow. 343 

and some day, when machinery has taken the place of 
hand labor, they will be one of the greatest of the manu- 
facturing nations. The empire has vast deposits of gold 
and silver, and of coal, iron, and copper ; it has more wood 
than any other European country; it raises quantities of 
wool and flax and tobacco, and also in Asia a great deal 
of cotton, so that it has all the materials for a great manu- 
facturing country. 

Until a few years ago the most of the Russian peasants 
were practically in slavery, and all sorts of work were 
done in the rudest way. Now the people are intro- 
ducing modern inventions, and they are establishing large 
factories with the finest machinery. They are opening 
up their mines both in Europe and Asia, the government 
is encouraging improved methods of farming, and the 
education of the people has begun. They are rapidly 
growing in intelligence and wealth, and they will continue 
to grow. Many believe that the two greatest nations of 
the world of the future will be the Russians and the 
Americans. 

But let us take a stroll through the business sections of 
Moscow. We shall find them different from those of the 
other great cities we have seen, for Russia is in some 
respects more like Asia than Europe or the United 
States. Here we are, in one of the great bazaars which 
we find in all Russian cities. It is a vast building cover- 
ing many acres, filled with all sorts of shops, opening out 
into covered corridors or arcades, so that there are hun- 
dreds upon hundreds of stores under one roof. This one 
bazaar has twelve hundred stores; it is a whole town of 
stores roofed over, and the stores are of all kinds, so that 
you can buy anything you want from a slate pencil to a 
sealskin coat, or from a toothpick to a set of furniture. 



344 RUSSIA. 

There are jewelry shops and clothing stores, stores sell- 
ing leather goods, and stores which deal only in pictures 
and books. We wander through one arcaded street after 
another, past beautiful things of all kinds, and some of 
great value, realizing as we do so that Russia must have 
a large class of rich people to buy goods so very expen- 
sive. 

We are also surprised at the way they do business. 
When we attempt to purchase, the merchant usually 
charges us more than he expects to receive, and we must 
bargain with him if we would pay only a fair price. The 
result is that we offset his price by an offer of much less, 
whereupon he comes down a little. We then go up a 
few cents, and if we hold out we at last get it perhaps 
for what we are willing to give. 

The business hours in the bazaars are from nine in the 
morning until five in the afternoon. We visit them one 
day about shutting-up time, and watch the merchants 
lock up for the night. Each store facing the street has 
windows and doors, which are closed tight and then fas- 
tened with padlocks. The merchant turns the key and 
then ties the padlock to the staple, sealing the two 
ends of the string with hot wax, into which he presses 
his stamp, so that the store cannot possibly be opened with- 
out breaking the seal. He then stands in front of the 
closed doors and crosses himself, saying a prayer, before 
he leaves for the night. He will probably say another 
when he opens his shop in the morning. 

Outside the bazaars there are many stores scattered 
over the city, some of which have curious signs. They 
have pictures painted on the walls facing the street, which 
show what articles are sold within, so that those who can- 
not read may understand from the pictures. Take, for 



Moscow. 345 

instance, that barber sign over there on the opposite side 
of the street ! The whole wall of the shop is covered with 
it. One part of it represents a man in his shirt sleeves shav- 
ing a customer, while opposite him is a lady holding out her 
arm, from which a stream of blood is spouting, while a man 
stands beside her with a knife in his hand. Farther down 
in the picture sits a boy having a tooth pulled, and the 
whole sign shows us that the man within is not only a bar- 
ber, but a dentist and surgeon as well. That store farther 
on is a feed store. There is a bundle of hay in the doorway, 
and on the walls at the sides are pictures of horses and 
cows feeding and grazing. The tea signs represent China- 
men sipping tea ; while the dairy signs are pictures of 
cows with maids milking them. 

We visit the markets before going back to our hotel. 
They are of enormous extent, and are filled with the finest 
of game, meats, fish, and vegetables. The better class 
Russians are noted for their extravagant living, and the 
markets of St. Petersburg and Moscow are as good as 
those of any other European city. Fish may be bought 
alive. They are kept in stone vats of running water, each 
filled with its own kind of fish. In the dining rooms of 
some of the great restaurants there are marble fountains 
with fishes swimming about in them. You can point out 
the fish you want for your supper, and the waiter will 
catch it in a net and cook it for you, and I am sure you 
will say it is the best fish you ever ate. Russia is noted 
for fine fish, and it exports quantities of fish and fish eggs 
every year. The Volga, the Caspian Sea, and the Black 
Sea have rich fishing grounds, and there are fisheries 
along the Arctic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. 

In the markets we see cans, buckets, and tubs of caviar. 
This is a Russian dainty made of the roe of the sturgeon. 



346 RUSSIA. 

Caviar looks like bird shot, but it is in reality the eggs of 
the sturgeon, which are eaten in great quantities by the 
people throughout Russia. The fresh caviar is the best, 
but a great deal of it is canned, and thus sold all over the 
world. After the eggs have been removed, the sturgeon 
meat is salted, and you can buy it in the market at about 
ten cents a pound. There are also stalls where only dried 
fish is sold. This is eaten by the people everywhere, and 
it forms a part of the diet of the peasants. 

The queerest market sights are those of the winter, 
when almost everything is sold in a frozen state. The 
Russian winter is so cold that fish and meats can easily be 
kept frozen for months. The butcher can lay away his 
beef, mutton, and chickens in October, and bring them 
forth at any time during the winter. The meats are frozen 
so hard that a knife will not cut them, and they have to 
be sawed, or chopped up with an ax, when it is said splin- 
ters of meat fly about in every direction, and the beggars 
collect them and take them off home. 

Leaving the markets, we go back to our hotel. It is an 
enormous structure, having a dining room so large that a 
thousand people can be seated in it at one time. The food 
is excellent, and we find that we can live as well in Moscow 
as in any other city we have visited. The customs of 
eating, however, are different from those of the other Euro- 
pean countries. The first thing the Russian does upon 
entering the dining room is to go to a lunch counter, which 
is always found at one side of the room, where vodka, a 
Russian liquor, and such relishes as caviar, raw herring, 
smoked salmon, radishes, butter, and cheese are laid out. 
He drinks a small glass of the vodka and eats a bit of a 
relish while standing, and then goes and takes his seat for 
his dinner. 



Moscow. 347 

The first thing that is served at a regular dinner is soup ; 
and we find the ordinary dish of Russian soup almost a 
whole meal. One of the most popular kinds is known as 
stchee. Sneeze hard and you will get the right pronuncia- 
tion ! Stchee is made of cabbage and beef, to which is 
often added a bowl of sour cream. Each plateful of the 
soup has a big chunk of beef in the middle, and we are 
expected first to eat the soup and then to cut up the beef 
and eat it. There are other soups of all kinds, hot and 
cold. There is even iced soup, as we discover when we 
lunch one day at a restaurant. We cannot read Russian, 
and point to the odd letters where the word soup should 
be on the bill of fare, and ask the waiter for that. He goes 
to the kitchen and brings a great bowl of white liquid with 
a piece of ice as big as his fist floating about in it. We 
try it. It tastes like iced vinegar, and one taste is enough. 

After the soup, meat and vegetables of various kinds 
are brought on, and then most delicious desserts. The 
Russian bread and butter at the better hotels is always 
good. 

Leaving the markets, we take droskies and ride about 
Moscow. It is built upon the hills and hollows which here 
line the winding Moscow River. It is twenty-five miles in 
circumference, and the shortest car line from one side of it 
to the other is nine miles long. 

In the very center of the city is a great fortress or 
citadel known as the Kremlin, which contains the old 
palace of the Czar, several famous Russian churches, the 
cathedral in which the emperors of Russia are crowned, 
and the tall tower of Ivan the Great. 

The tower is five stories high, and its golden dome seems 
to float in the air away up there three hundred feet above 
the ground. There is a stairway in it, and we climb up 



348 



RUSSIA. 



four hundred and fifty steps to the top, for a view of the 
city. We are hanging over a vast expanse of trees and 
houses, out of which rise the golden spires and domes of 
hundreds of churches. There are thousands of green trees, 
the roofs of the houses are all painted green, while some 
of the church domes are of sky blue, spotted with stars of 
gold. On the opposite side of the river we can see the 




The Kremlin. 

golden dome of the Church of our Savior, and beyond 
the city the smokestacks of the factories ; while just under 
us is the great triangular walled space known as the 
Kremlin. It is paved with cobblestones, and its massive 
wall is entered by five gates, each of which has a history. 
There is the one through which we came. It is called 
the Gate of the Redeemer on account of a picture of the 



MOSCOW. 



349 




Church of our Savior. 

Savior above it, and every one, from the Czar to the peas- 
ant, takes off his hat to that picture as he goes through. 
Every inch of land within the walls of the Kremlin is his- 
toric and sacred. In the church below us all the Czars of 
Russia have been crowned, and there to the left is the 
imperial treasury, where are the jewels and the costly 
plate belonging to the Russian crown. There are hun- 
dreds of millions of dollars worth of gold and precious 
stones in that building ; there are basins of gold as big as 
a foot bath, some of the world's greatest diamonds, and 
two tables of solid silver. 

As we go down from the Tower of Ivan the Great, we 
pass the many bells for which it is noted. Russia is a land 
of bells, and there are said to be two thousand in Moscow 
alone. The largest bell that rings, so large that you 



350 



RUSSIA. 



could not get it into an ordinary parlor, hangs within the 
tower ; and there are others, some of which are made of 
solid silver, but of smaller size. As we come out of the 
Tower we see at its foot, on a pedestal of stone, the big- 
gest bell ever made. It is as tall as a two-story house, is 
fifty-five feet in circumference, and two feet in thickness. 

A piece taller than 



a man is broken out 
of its side, and when 
we climb up and 
crawl into the hole 
where this piece 
once was, we are 
in a great tent of 
bronze. This bell 
was first cast in the 
sixteenth century, 
and was hung in 
Ivan's Tower. The 
tower burned, and 
when the bell fell 
it was broken in 
pieces. It was cast 
again in a larger 
size, but when the 
metal was still 
molten the women of Moscow, in a religious frenzy, threw 
their jewelry into the mass, and this rendered it so imper- 
fect that when it was rung a great piece broke out of its 
side. Then there was another fire, and the bell fell once 
more, never to rise again. 

From the Kremlin we visit the great Church of our 
Savior, built to commemorate the deliverance of Moscow 




" — the biggest bell ever made. 



DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE CASPIAN SEA. 35 1 

when the French soldiers under Napoleon invaded the 
country. The church cost about forty million dollars, or 
about three times as much as our Capitol at Washington. 
Later on we spend some time in the Moscow University, 
which was founded by Peter the Great, and which has now 
several thousand students. 

We next drive out to the peoples' park, and enjoy our- 
selves with the Russian children in the roller coasters and 
merry-go-rounds; we listen to the open air concerts, and 
drink our tea under the trees. We find that the Russians 
are fond of enjoyment and pleasure. They have shows of 
all kinds, and their musicians are among the best of the 
world. 

XXXVI. DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE 
CASPIAN SEA. 

WE are at Nizhni Novgorod (nezh'ni nov'go-rod), on 
the River Volga. We have come from Moscow by 
train, and are now on a bluff overlooking the Volga, at the 
point where the Oka flows into it. Above us upon a hill 
is a great fortress, and behind and about us a city with 
fine streets, many stores and churches, and large public 
buildings. It contains one hundred thousand people, and 
the noise of its business and traffic makes a din in our ears. 
Below, on the tongue of land formed by the junction of 
the Volga and Oka, is another city almost as large, but, 
strange to say, as quiet and deserted as a city of the dead. 
We cannot see a wreath of smoke coming from its thou- 
sands of chimneys ; its many stores are closed, and their 
shelves have no goods upon them. It has theaters, but no 
actors ; its electric lights have not shone for months, and 



352 



RUSSIA. 



the grass is growing in its streets. It is the Fair City of 
Nizhni Novgorod, which for about a month in late summer 
is one of the liveliest trading places in the whole world, 
but which for the rest of the year is deserted and dead. 




Nizhni Novgorod. 

In the Middle Ages the most of the business of Europe 
was done in great fairs held at all the principal centers, 
and visited by buyers and sellers from everywhere. These 
fairs were usually held once a year, and they often lasted 
for weeks. They were established because there were but 
few large cities with stores of all kinds such as are found 
in Europe to-day. Most of the people lived in villages as 
they still do in Russia ; there were no railroads, and but 
few good wagon roads, and no way of moving rapidly 
about upon the rivers, so that the people could not go often 
from one place to another to buy or sell goods. As the 



DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE CASPIAN SEA. 353 

means of communication improved and the cities grew, the 
fairs passed away, but there are still a number in Russia, 
and now and then one in other parts of Europe, such as 
Leipsig, where we heard of the book fairs and fur fairs 
which are still held every year. 

The principal fair of Russia meets annually in that de- 
serted city below us. Those houses have been built for 
it; they contain more than six thousand shops, which a 
month or so hence will be filled with goods. There will 
be more than six thousand merchants selling them, and 
many, many thousands of purchasers. Then the banks 
of the Volga for ten miles above here will be covered with 
merchandise, and both the Volga and Oka will be crowded 
with shipping. Vessels from the Caspian Sea will bring raw 
cotton from Central Asia, and bales of fine wool from South 
Russia, as well as carpets, rugs, silks, and other such things. 
Barges of pig iron from Siberia will be floated down from 
the Ural Mountains, and great loads of brick tea will be 
carried on camels over the highlands from China. Every 
variety of goods made in the thousands of factories of 
Russia will be brought hither, as well as skins, furs, fish, 
sugar, coffee, rice, and, in short, almost everything that is 
made anywhere. Most of the business will be at wholesale, 
and a vast deal of money will change hands. 

The customers will be of all the nations and races of 
eastern Europe and southern and western Asia. One 
section of the city will be given up to the Chinese, another 
to the Persians and Turks, and others to the Russians. 
There will be Georgians and Circassians, Armenians and 
Roumanians, Germans and Hungarians, and merchants 
from every part of the Russian Empire. There will in all 
be several hundred thousand strangers in the great fair 
city, and we regret we cannot stay for the sight. We 



354 RUSSIA. 

have time for only a drive through the now deserted 
streets, after which we take the steamer for our long ride 
down the Volga to the Caspian Sea. 

How interesting it is ! We have steamed out of Nizhni 
Novgorod, and are now moving southward upon the great- 
est river of Europe. The Volga is twenty-three hundred 
miles long, and is navigable almost all the way from its 
source to its mouth. It is one of the great trade routes 
of Russia, and one of the commercial water ways of the 
world, including, with its tributaries, more than seven thou- 
sand miles of navigable water ways. It is connected by 
canal with the Neva, so that boats and barges from the 
Baltic can be taken through that river and the canal into 
the Volga, and carried on down to the Caspian Sea. It 
has other canals which connect it with the Dwina and the 
Arctic Ocean, and one joining the Oka to the Don, by 
which goods can be taken from the Volga, up the Oka, 
into the Don and the Black Sea. 

The river is winding, and the scene continually changes. 
Now we are going north and now south. Now the stream 
widens, so that we seem to be steaming through a great 
lake, and now it is narrow and deep with high rugged 
banks. One day we have a storm and the water changes 
from silver to ink, while the winds from the plain sweep in 
gusts over our vessel. The storm passes, and the sun sets 
in a blaze of red in the western horizon. 

Every few miles we pass a large village of log huts, 
and now and then go by a city. There are forty large 
cities on the Volga, and more than one thousand towns 
and villages. We see many windmills, and everywhere, 
above the towns, the spires and domes of the churches. 

Our first long stay is at Kazan, which we reach about a 
day and a night after leaving Nizhni Novgorod. It is one 



DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE CASPIAN SEA. 



355 



of the oldest cities of Russia, having been the capital of 

the Tartars when those almond-eyed, yellow savages over- 
ran Eastern Europe, and 

for two hundred years 

fought for the country 

with the Slavs. They were 

finally conquered by the 

Russians, under Ivan the 

Terrible, but many of 

the Tartars remained in 

Kazan, and there are 

thousands of Tartars in 

it to-day. There are three 

now in that crowd on the 

wharf ! You can tell them 

by their yellow faces and 

slant eyes. They have 

caps of black astrakhan 

fur, and their heads are 

shaved close; while the Russians have caps with visors, 

and wear their hair long. Farther back is a group of 

Tartar women. They are queer-looking creatures with 

sacques over their heads. 
The Tartars are good Mo- 
hammedans, and Moham- 
medan women seldom 
show their faces to any 
men but their husbands. 

The country is densely 
populated, and we see 
children everywhere. 
Farther down the river we spend an hour in Samara, 

a large city with many windmills about it, and stop again 

CARP. EUROPE — 22 




Tartar Women. 




— we see children everywhere. 



356 Russia. 

farther on at Saratof, in a grain-growing region. Every- 
where we see rich crops of wheat, barley, and rye. There 
are miles upon miles of pastures, herds of cattle and horses, 
and great flocks of sheep, and vast tracts of sunflowers with 
their great golden blossoms swaying to and fro in the wind. 

The Russians raise sunflowers for their seeds, and they 
consider them a very profitable crop. The seeds when 
pressed yield a rich oil, which is used for salads and 
cooking, and also for lighting and making candles and 
soap. The refuse of the seeds after the oil is squeezed 
out is an excellent food for pigs, cattle, and sheep, and 
also for rabbits, pigeons, and poultry. The people eat 
the seeds as we do peanuts, keeping a handful or so in 
their pockets, and nibbling away on them from time to 
time. There is such a demand for the seeds for various 
purposes, that more than forty million pounds of them 
are raised every year. The flowers are rich in honey, and 
the farmers keep bees, which feed upon them. A yellow 
dye is made from the blossoms, and the stalks have a fiber 
which the people in some districts use as we do flax. We 
ask how the sunflowers are raised, and are told that the 
seeds are sown very late in the fall or in the early spring, 
and harvested in the summer. The seed is drilled in rows 
about eighteen inches apart, and the plants thinned out so 
that there is a space of a foot or so between them. An 
acre of plants should yield about fifty bushels of seed. 

We are interested in the shipping of the Volga. The 
river is filled with vessels from Nizhni Novgorod to the sea. 
We go by many passenger steamers, past great barges 
loaded with grain, and tank ships of petroleum on their 
way from the oil fields below the Caucasus Mountains to 
the railroads and factories of the north. We pass enor- 
mous rafts of lumber, each with a neat house upon it, 



DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE CASPIAN SEA. 357 

where the lumbermen live during the voyage. The rafts 
come from the northern forests, where the timber was cut, 
and the lumbermen will sell both timber and houses when 
they reach their destination in one of the towns of the tree- 
less plains farther down stream. Nearer the shore are 
small boats towed along from the banks by horses and by 
red-shirted peasants ; there are fishing boats here and 
there, and other craft of every description. 

We are more than four days on the river before we 
reach Astrachan, at the head of the delta of the Volga, 
where it divides into about two hundred mouths and flows 
on to the Caspian Sea. Here the river is wide ; its volume 
increases with the floods of the spring, when it becomes 
a great sea, from ten to twenty-five miles broad, for hun- 
dreds of miles from its mouth. Even here the Volga is 
frozen for three months, and above Nizhni Novgorod it is 
covered with ice for five or six months every year. 

Astrachan is the chief port for the Caspian Sea, al- 
though it is situated about eighty miles north of it. It is 
a very old city, largely inhabited by the fishermen of the 
Caspian, and having a vast trade in fish as well as in wool 
and other products of the region about it. We visit the 
establishments where they are putting up caviar for export, 
and then take steamer for Baku, the chief port of the Rus- 
sian oil regions on the Caspian Sea. 

It takes us all day to get to the mouth of the Volga, 
and we are more than another day in sailing on to Baku. 
The Caspian is rough, for a storm rises when we are far 
out from land, and in our little vessel we are rolled about 
more than we were during our passage across the Atlantic. 
The Caspian is the largest of all inland seas, and the 
winds from the Russian steppes roll up immense billows 
upon it. The water is salt, and the spray which is dashed 



358 Russia. 

in our faces makes us think of the ocean. We are now 
ninety feet below the surface of the Black Sea, which we 
left at Odessa, and as we near Baku we are in sight of the 
Caucasus Mountains, the southern boundary of European 
Russia. 

When we leave the steamer we step out on the soil of 
Asia, but as the oil fields are closely associated with Euro- 
pean Russia, we have decided to include them in our 
tour. They begin at Baku. The strip in which they are 
found is only a few miles in width, but it is more than a 
thousand miles long. 

We seem to be steaming through oil as we come into 
the harbor. The water is coated with it, and there is a 
strong smell of petroleum from the great tank ships, and 
from the trains of tank cars as well as from the pipes 
which bring the oil into the city. We ask for a drink 
of fresh water, and when it is brought we taste it, and 
then hand it back in disgust, for it has the flavor of kero- 
sene. In Baku much of the cooking is done with oil, 
and the factories use oil for fuel. The city for a long 
time was lighted with oil, and everything we see seems 
mixed with it. 

The train which carries us through the oil region burns 
petroleum. We ride for miles through a forest of black 
towers sixty feet high, each standing above an oil well ; 
and when at last we get out of the cars, and walk on the 
ground, the oil oozes out under our feet. The scenes are 
somewhat like those of the oil regions of the United States, 
save that, instead of the skeleton-like derricks which stand 
over our wells, we have here towers like pyramids boarded 
up, and as black as though they were covered with pitch. 
At each tower is a shed for the engine used for boring 
the well, also for pumping oil. The black on the tower 



DOWN THE VOLGA TO THE CASPIAN SEA. 



359 



has come from the oil and sand which spouted forth from 
the well when the oil was first struck. 

The petroleum of this part of the world is nearer the 
surface than in our oil fields. Some of the wells are only- 
two hundred feet deep, and many are less than a thousand 
feet deep. When a good well is first struck, the oil often 
bursts forth to a great height, falling in a dense shower all 




I >■■■■ mKm 



-.--..-- 



" — a forest of black towers." 

about. Sometimes so much oil comes from the foun- 
tain wells that it is impossible to save it, and it flows off 
in streams over the land. Ditches are then dug to carry 
it to the reservoirs, and we see streams of oil, ponds of oil, 
and great tanks of oil everywhere. From one well bored 
some years ago, the oil spouted up to the height of four 
hundred feet, and it kept spouting for months; so that 
within less than two years it produced enough petroleum 



360 RUSSIA. 

to fill a ditch more than a yard wide and a hundred miles 
long, and deep enough to cover the head of a man stand- 
ing upright within it. 

As we proceed, we see more and more evidences of the 
great extent of the Russian oil fields. There are five hun- 
dred ships on the Caspian Sea which carry nothing but oil ; 
vast amounts are shipped to Russia and other parts of 
Europe ; and trains of tank cars are always carrying petro- 
leum and kerosene to the Black Sea ; from there it is 
shipped through the strait of the Bosporus and the Mediter- 
ranean Sea to Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. 
The United States now sells more oil than any other coun- 
try, but Russia is competing with it in the markets of the 
world ; and as we ride on and on through these forests of 
black towers, we wonder whether Russia may not at some 
time surpass the United States in exporting petroleum. 

From the oil regions we take a train for Tiflis, the capi- 
tal of the Russian dominions in Transcaucasia, a territory 
which is as large as France, and which contains more than 
eight million people. The city is a beautiful one of about 
two hundred thousand inhabitants. It lies in a valley with 
vineyards about it, with rocky heights farther back, and 
with many snow-clad peaks far off in the distance. We 
are now in the heart of the Caucasus Mountains, but on 
the lower side of the range, and quite a long way from 
Mount Elburz, the highest of these mountains, and also 
the highest mountain of Europe. 

The people of Tiflis are chiefly Asiatics. We see many 
strange faces and costumes as we ride about the town and 
shop in the bazaars ; and we feel that we might linger for 
weeks here in Asia had we not a large part of Europe yet 
to explore. We visit the different quarters of the city, buy 
a few things of the Persian, Turkish, and Armenian mer- 



IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 



361 




Tiflis. 



chants in the markets, and then take the train through the 
Caucasus to Batoum on the Black Sea, where we find a 
ship which within a few days will land us in Constantinople, 
the capital of Turkey. 



:>XK< 



XXXVII. IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 



THE strait of the Bosporus, which connects the big 
Black Sea with the little Sea of Marmora and the 
Mediterranean, winds in and out through a deep mountain 
valley which here lies between Europe and Asia. The 
hills in some places slope almost precipitously down to the 
water, and in other palaces great cliffs overhang it. Here 
and there along the strait are the palaces of the Sultan 



362 TURKEY. 

and of Turkish nobles, interspersed with fishermen's huts 
and peasant villages, with rich farms and forests. There 
are castles and fortresses on some of the hills, and the 
scenery often reminds us of the Rhine and the Danube, 

The Bosporus is one of the great water highways between 
Europe and Asia, and vast cargoes of grain, oil, wool, and 
other products are always passing back and forth through 
it. The strait is only nineteen miles long, but so wide and 
deep that the largest ocean steamers can easily navigate it. 

At the southern end of the strait, where it empties into 
the Sea of Marmora, there is a lofty little peninsula, a 
tongue of land extending far out, and almost blocking the 
entrance. The northern side of this peninsula is bordered 
by a horn-shaped inlet which forms a wide and deep harbor, 
so covered with rich shipping that it is called the Golden 
Horn. The peninsula itself is not much larger than a big 
Texas farm, but it is the site of Constantinople, one of the 
most beautiful cities of the world (see map, p. 382). 

We have learned that there is always a reason for cities 
being situated just where they are. Even as villages are 
built at country crossroads to catch the business of the 
people moving each way, so cities grow up on the great 
highways of commerce, and especially where such high- 
ways cross. This is one of the reasons for the growth of 
Constantinople. It is at the chief crossroads of Europe 
and Asia. The grand divisions here come close together, 
and goods brought in by caravan for Europe can be easily 
shipped over the narrow strait to Constantinople, from 
where they can be sent on to the northward. Moreover, 
Constantinople occupies the best position on the great water 
road of the Bosporus which connects the whole world with 
the Black Sea and all parts of eastern # Europe. The Golden 
Horn gives Constantinople an excellent harbor, and its situ- 



IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 



363 



ation at the mouth of the Bosporus makes it really the 
chief port of the Danube, the Dnieper, the Don, and the 
other great rivers which empty into the Black Sea, and 
as such it has always had a great trade. The city also has 
the advantage of being easily defended. There are high- 
lands about it, upon which are great fortifications, and forts 




Along .the Bosporus. 

have been erected along the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, 
so that the Turks can, if they wish, prevent ships from 
moving out and in through the strait. 

The site of Constantinople is so central that a city 
was founded here more than twenty-five hundred years 
ago, under the name of Byzantium, which for centuries 
was a center of commerce and trade. About a thousand 
years later the Emperor Constantine made it the capital 



364 TURKEY. 

of the whole Roman Empire, and called it Constantinople. 
For many centuries it was a Roman city. Then it was 
taken by the Crusaders, and, in the Middle Ages, by the 
Mohammedan Turks. 

A few years before Columbus started out on his first 
voyage to America, the Turks, a yellow race of Tartar 
Mohammedans who had overrun Asia Minor, captured 
the city, and extended their conquests farther on into 
Europe, taking country after country along the Danube 
and elsewhere, until they had almost as much territory 
as there is in the German Empire of to-day. They had 
still larger possessions in Asia than in Europe, but they 
so liked Constantinople that they chose it for the capital 
of their empire, and it holds this position to-day, although 
the greater part of their European territories have been 
taken from them. 

But we are now at the end of the Bosporus, right in 
front of the city. Our ship is slowly steaming in and out 
among craft of all kinds. The Golden Horn in front of 
us is filled with vessels of every description, and there are 
hundreds of little caiques (ka-eks'), or Turkish gondolas, 
containing passengers and pleasure hunters, moving in 
all directions. Steam launches and tugs are darting in 
and out through the shipping. The boats are manned 
by queerly dressed sailors, and' all our surroundings are 
strange. 

We are on the water, but nevertheless almost in the 
midst of the great city of Constantinople. There on the 
right bank of the Golden Horn are the marble palaces of 
the Sultan, some high up on the hill, and others on the edge 
of the water ; while farther on are the houses and business 
structures of Pera, where the most of the Europeans live. 
&t the left, on the opposite bank of the Bosporus, a village of 



IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 365 

pink houses of curious shapes rises out of green trees. That 
land is Asia, and the town is Scutari, the suburb of Con- 
stantinople, where the largest of the Turkish cemeteries is 
located, and where many Turks who do business in Con- 
stantinople live. Before us on the peninsula is spread 
out the main part of the city, known as Stambul, which 
contains the vast bazaars, the hundreds of mosques, and 
the dwellings of most of the million and more who make up 
the population of this great Turkish capital. 

As we come closer the city appears to rise straight up 
from the sea. There is a low ruined wall about it, built 
centuries ago ; but back of this are palaces, here and there 
on the edge of the water, surrounded by green. The city 
is made up of hill and hollow, and as it lies before us it is 
a vast rolling expanse of houses, with huge domes and tall 
white towers extending high above them. Each of those 
domes is on the roof of one of the great Mohammedan 
churches or mosques, some of which cover acres, and the 
white towers are their minarets. The minarets have gal- 
leries about them in which, with our glasses, we can see 
dark-faced men in turbans and gowns standing, as they 
call the people to prayer. We can hear their shrill tenor 
voices coming over the water, and we see the Moham- 
medans on our ship turn toward the south in the direction 
of Mecca, their holy city, and kneel down and bend their 
heads to the deck, as they utter their prayers. 

Now we have entered the Golden Horn and landed at 
Pera. We have walked through the business part of the 
city and gone down to the bridge of boats, which is the 
main highway across to Stambul. We have paid our toll 
to the tall Turk in turban and gown at the entrance, and 
are standing on the bridge gazing at the strange throngs 
that are moving back and forth on their way to and from 



366 



TURKEY. 




pers turned up at the toes, 
they walk. Their faces are 
dark, and their eyes some- 
what slanting; many have 
long beards which reach 
down their breasts. Most of 
those who dress in this way 
are Turks, and all are Mo- 
hammedans. There are also 
hundreds of dark-faced men 
wearing clothes like ours, 
but with red fez caps on their 
heads, and there are boys in 
red caps and long gowns. 

But what are those two 
curious creatures now com- 



the great city. Constan- 
tinople is a mixture of 

~J~ many strange races. It 
has more Turks perhaps 
than any other people, but 
there are thousands of Ar- 
menians, Persians, Circas- 
sians, Greeks, Georgians, 
and Jews, as well as strange 
characters from all parts 
of Europe and southwest- 
ern Asia. 

There are scores of men 
in long gowns, with white, 
red, blue, or green turbans 
about their heads. They 
wear red or yellow slip- 

which clap on the boards as 




■each looks like two mammoth 
sausages." 



IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 



367 



ing toward us ? As they enter the bridge, in the distance, 
each looks like two mammoth sausages tied together one 
on top of the other. Those are two Turkish women, 
who have their heads and faces so wrapped up that they 
hardly seem human. 
Their dresses look like 
balloons, for their outer 
clothing hides their 
forms as they walk 
through the street. 
Now they are closer, 
and we see that each 
wears a veil, so that 
only the eyes and a 
strip of the forehead 
are visible. One of the 
women has a black ser- 
vant with her, a slave 
who is going along to 
guard and protect her. 
Mohammedan women 
do not show their faces 
on the street; and 
indoors they are rarely 
seen by any other 
men than their hus- 
bands. 

Get out of the way 
of that porter! Don't you see the enormous box he is 
carrying on his back, bending over so that he can hardly 
look up ? He is one of the drays of Constantinople, and 
he competes with the donkey and the camel for his share 
of the freight. There are but few heavy vehicles in the 




•we see that each wears a veil.' 



368 



TURKEY. 




— as much as five 
hundred pounds." 



city. Trunks and boxes of all kinds are carried about by 
the porters, called hamals (ha-mals'), who rest their bur- 
ly dens on saddles fastened to their backs. 
Some of them are so strong they can 
carry as much as five hundred pounds 
at one load. 

But let us walk over the bridge, keep- 
ing close to the railing and out of the 
way of the carriages, donkeys, and 
camels, and of the turbaned soldiers rid- 
ing Arabian horses. We walk behind a 
Greek priest, who strolls along arm and 
arm with a Circassian in uniform, wear- 
ing a high cap of astrakhan fur. As we 
go on we are accosted by beggars in tur- 
bans. We pass peddlers and hucksters 
dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, 
and selling all kinds of goods. We stop one for a drink 
from a great bottle of lemonade which he carries on his 
back, and from another we buy some of the Turkish fig 
paste for which Constantinople is famous. 

Now we have left the bridge and are making our way 
through the city. The streets are narrow and winding. 
They are paved with cobblestones, and in many places are 
dirty and filthy. What a lot of dogs there are everywhere ; 
many lie asleep on the stones so that we have to kick them 
to get them out of our way. They put their tails between 
their legs and move off growling, for they are poor-spirited 
curs and are perhaps the leanest dogs of the world. They 
excite a pathetic interest, for they have no masters. They 
belong to the city and their only homes are the streets. 
The Turks never think of letting dogs come into their 
houses, for they consider them unclean, so that, although 



IN CONSTANTINOPLE, 369 

Constantinople has thousands of dogs, no man in the city 
owns a dog. Each dog has its own quarter, however, and 
when a stray cur comes into a strange alley, the dogs of 
the alley pounce upon him and drive him out. The dogs 
serve as the scavengers, and they seem to be the only 
street cleaners of Constantinople. 




" — a town of stores all under one roof." 

But here we are at the bazaars, where we can learn how 
they do business in this great Mohammedan city. We push 
our way through the crowds at the entrance, and enter a 
town of stores all under one roof. There are acres upon 
acres of little cell-like shops ranged along narrow cobble- 
stone streets, lighted here and there by small domes. 
Some of the stores are not bigger than packing boxes. 
Here is one so small that it is entirely filled by the mer- 



370 TURKEY. 

chant, who sits cross-legged on the floor, with his goods 
piled around him. Other shops are larger ; and many are 
furnished with divans upon which long-gowned, long- 
bearded men sit, and smoke and drink coffee as they bar- 
gain. The floors of some of the stores are as high as a 
chair, and we sit on the floor with our feet in the street as 
we shop. 

All business is done by bargaining, and it takes us a 
long time to make every purchase. It is customary to find 
fault with the goods, and at the suggestion of our guide we 
offer only about one third the amount that the merchant 
demands. If he refuses we come up a few cents, and if 
he will make no reduction whatever, start away expecting 
to be called back, as is often the case, although he protests 
that such sales will ruin his business. There are no fixed 
prices, and the Turkish dealer takes all he can get. 

In many of the bazaars the turbaned storekeeper sends 
out a servant for coffee, and we drink as we bargain. The 
coffee is served without cream, in a little cup no bigger 
than half an eggshell. It is as thick as chocolate, and 
almost as sweet as molasses; we are told that it is made 
of the roasted coffee beans pounded to a fine powder. 
We grow very fond of it, although it seems more like a 
sweet syrup than coffee. 

We devote a long time to the bazaars, strolling about 
through one narrow street after another. Each section 
has its own kind of goods. We walk through roofed alleys 
walled with slippers and shoes of the brightest of colors, 
and of all grades and prices. There are men's shoes of 
red leather made without heels, and with the toes turned 
up at the ends like an old-fashioned skate. There are 
ladies' shoes of fine silk in the most delicate shades of 
pearl, pink, and sky blue, some of which are covered with 



AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 37 1 

gold and silver embroidery. We each buy a pair of chil- 
dren's shoes to take home. They are of red leather, with 
a tassel of wool on each toe as big as a walnut. Under 
the tassel is a bell, so that some of the little Turks actually 
go about with bells on their toes. 

We stay some time in the Persian bazaars, looking at 
beautiful shawls and other things from that country, buy a 
fez cap apiece in the fez shops, and in the perfumery sec- 
tion lay in a supply of attar of roses, for this is the land of 
that delightful perfume. In European Turkey there are 
vast rose farms each containing many thousands of bushes. 
The roses are picked when in full bloom, and from their 
leaves is extracted an oil, the scent of which is so strong 
that a drop of it put into a box of clothing will make it 
smell like roses for weeks. This oil is called attar of roses. 
Vast quantities of it are sold in Constantinople, and a great 
deal is exported to other parts of the world. 

Passing through the spice bazaar, we enter streets where 
scores of merchants are selling the oriental carpets and 
rugs for which Turkey is famous. The rugs are made on 
hand looms by the women and girls in different parts 
of the empire. The work is done in their homes, and it 
takes them a long time to make a fine rug. Only a few 
square inches can be made in one day, and the larger rugs 
require many months of continuous work. 

XXXVIII. AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 

OUR first business this morning is to learn something 
of the Turkish empire and how it is governed. We 
leave our hotel and go to the Sublime Porte, a vast build- 
ing which contains the chief public offices of the Sultan. 

CARP. EUROPE — 23 



372 



TURKEY 



We are met at the door by the guards, one of whom takes 
us through room after room filled with clerks, each wearing 
a turban or a red fez cap on his head. Some wear Euro- 
pean clothes, and a few have on long gowns like the mer- 
chants of the bazaars. 




" — the Sublime Porte, a vast building which contains the public offices 
of the Sultan." 

The Empire of Turkey is ruled by the Sultan and a 
Parliament of two Houses which is elected by the people. 
The Sultan has a council of ministers much like the Cabi- 
net of our President. His chief officer, who has charge of 
all civil affairs, is called the Grand Vizier, and another very 
great man is the Sheik-ul-Islam, or chief of the Church, 



AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 



373 



who has to do with all matters relating to the Mohamme- 
dans in Constantinople and throughout the empire. Not 
only is the Sultan the civil ruler of the Turkish people, but 
he is the head of the Mohammedan religion, which is pro- 
fessed by more than one hundred million people in differ- 
ent parts of the world. 

The Turkish Empire once included a large part 
of Asia, Africa, and Europe, but now it covers a 
territory only about a third as large as the United 
States. The European possessions of the Turks have for 
years been steadily decreasing. 
Country after country has been 
taken from them by Russia and 
Austria, and the Sultan is now able 
to hold Constantinople, and his re- 
maining territories north of the 
Bosporus, only by the consent of 
the great powers who fear Russia, 
and think Europe will be safer 
from her as long as the entrance 
to the Black Sea is in the hands 
of the Turks. 

All the countries of European 
Turkey combined are not so large 
as some of our Western states. They now comprise only 
a part of the Balkan Peninsula, a rich land, inhabited by 
many different peoples, much like those we saw on our 
trip down the Danube. There are Roumanians, Servians, 
Bulgarians, Slavs, Albanians, Armenians, gypsies, and a 
great many Turks. About one half of the whole popula- 
tion is Mohammedan ; and of the other half the most be- 
long to the Greek Orthodox Church, which we learned 
about during our travels in Russia. 




Turkish Officer. 



374 TURKEY. 

The people throughout the whole Turkish Empire are 
poor. The Sultan and his officials prey upon them by 
demanding large taxes. The laws provide that one tenth of 
all the crops shall go to the government, and the officials 
come out to the harvest fields and carry away their share 
of the grain. There are also heavy taxes on imports and 
exports, so that the people cannot save money. Men will 
not work hard in a country where the government takes 
the lion's share of the profits ; the result is that there are 
comparatively few industries in Turkey, and the minerals 
and other resources are but little developed. 

In European Turkey the people live chiefly by farming 
and stock raising. They dwell in villages, having but few 
large towns, and only about a dozen cities of more than 
twenty thousand inhabitants. The largest city outside 
Constantinople is Saloniki. It is on the ^Egean Sea, and 
has a railroad connection with other parts of Europe. It 
has an excellent harbor, and is becoming a commercial 
port, as it is on the shortest sea route from London to the 
Suez Canal. Another important city is Adrianople, situ- 
ated where the road from Constantinople to Vienna crosses 
that from Bulgaria to the sea. It is also the center 
of the rose-growing region, where the attar of roses we 
bought in the bazaar is made. 

We observe that education is backward in Turkey. 
The chief teachers are the Mohammedan priests, and the 
schools are largely connected with the mosques, or Mo- 
hammedan churches. Very few of the cities have any 
modern improvements, and everything is somewhat Asiatic. 
European Turkey is a Mohammedan country, ruled by 
Mohammedans, and all of our surroundings show the evil 
effects that Mohammedanism has upon the people, and 
their advancement in civilization and wealth. 



AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 



375 




"The people live chiefly by farming." 



But let us go to the mosques, and see something of 
this interesting religion which is professed by about one 
fifteenth of the population of the globe. There are more 
than two thousand mosques in the Turkish Empire, and 
about three hundred of the finest of them are in Con- 
stantinople. Our first visit is to Santa Sophia, the 
largest mosque of the world. It was built as a Chris- 
tian church centuries ago ; ten thousand masons worked 
upon it for seven years, and one hundred architects were 
required to oversee its construction. It had doors of 
ivory, amber, and cedar, and its altar was made of precious 
stones, embedded in gold. The finest temples of Ephesus, 
Thebes, Athens, and Rome were robbed of columns in 



376 



TURKEY. 



order to decorate it, and it was a huge mass of precious 
marbles, gold, and jewels. When the Turks conquered 
Constantinople they destroyed much of its beauty. They 
defaced the paintings, and tore down the altars, and turned 
it into a mosque. Nevertheless, it is still one of the most 
interesting of the world's churches, and one of the largest. 
It covers almost as much ground as the Capitol at Wash- 




Interior of Santa Sophia. 

ington, being built in the shape of a Greek cross; it is 
covered with a vast roof upheld by a forest of columns 
with a grand dome in the center. 

But let us go in and see for ourselves. We shall first 
enter the court. There are turbaned, long-gowned Turks 
guarding the doors, and we are asked to take off our shoes ; 
for the Mohammedans consider their churches holy, and no 
one is permitted to enter them with his shoes on. There 
are fountains in the court, and about them are hundreds 



AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 377 

of Turks washing themselves before they go in to pray. 
The good Mohammedan prays five times every day, and he 
washes his face, hands, and feet before every prayer. 

We walk through corridor after corridor of the great 
mosque, and later attend one of the evening services, 
held in the light of its thousands of lamps. We stand in 
the galleries above great stars of flame, which seem to be 
floating in the air between the dome and the floor. Every 
pillar and every alcove is ablaze, and the galleries are 
walled with fire. The service has already begun when we 
enter the building. The floor below us is covered with 
worshipers. There are at least five thousand Moham- 
medans on their knees, with their faces toward Mecca, 
on that floor below us. In turbans and gowns, with their 
shoes in front of them, and their bare feet turned up to 
the gallery, they form long lines of color upon the white 
mats away down there under the floating flames. They 
are all praying in response to the shrill cries of the iman, 
or priest, who stands in the pulpit at one end of the 
vast church, and leads the service. He utters a sentence, 
and the long lines of turbaned men below us rise and fall 
like clockwork in their devotions. Now they stand upon 
their feet. Now they kneel down in prayer, and the strik- 
ing of ten thousand knees upon the floor sounds like the 
rumbling of cannon in the distance. Now they bend their 
heads to the mats, and the sound comes up like the fall 
of a great weight, rather than the touch of thousands of 
human heads. 

The Mohammedan prayers and methods of praying are 
fixed by the Koran, or Mohammedan Bible, and the peo- 
ple all pray the same way. They are not ashamed of 
their religion, and we see them reading their Korans in 
their stores, and kneeling down at their prayers in the 



378 TURKEY. 

bazaars. We observe them praying in the fields outside 
Constantinople, and near every mosque see thousands of 
them washing themselves before going in. 

We look at one of the Korans. It is printed in Arabic 
characters, and we cannot understand it. We are told, 
however, that it contains not only the religion of the Mo- 
hammedans, but also many of their laws, and that the 




" He has his own mosque." 

Sultan in governing his empire is supposed to follow its 
teachings. The Sultan is required to be a devout Moham- 
medan. He has his own mosque not far from his palace, 
where he goes to pray on Friday, which is the Moham- 
medan Sabbath. Once a year he makes a great show of 
kissing the mantle of the prophet Mohammed, which is 
kept as a precious relic in Stambul. 

During our stay in Constantinople we visit the Seraglio 



AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 379 

(se-ral'yo) in which is the old treasury of the Sultan, and 
later we drive out past the palace of Yildiz, where His 
Majesty lives. His grounds contain many acres of for- 
ests and gardens, in which are ravines, lakes, and bab- 
bling brooks, for he has a large income, although his 
people are so poor. He has altogether over thirty pal- 
aces, and keeps thousands of servants. There are a hun- 
dred porters, for instance, and it takes hundreds of cooks 
to prepare the food for the palace. 

In the Sultan's stables there are two thousand horses, 
and the finest of all the Arabian horses are sent to him. 
He has many slave girls as wives, according to law ; and 
formerly the most beautiful women that could be found 
in* Georgia and other parts of the Caucasus Mountains, 
regions where the women are noted for their beauty, were 
bought, and brought here to be made members of his im- 
mense family. 

According to the Mohammedan law, every true believer 
has the right to four wives, although most Mohammedans, 
for several reasons, have only one. One reason is that the 
better class women do but little work, and only a rich man 
can support several wives. Another reason, so the Turks 
tell us, is that with one wife a man may have peace in his 
family, but that more than one often bring trouble and 
discord. 

When we visit the Mohammedans in their homes, only 
the girls of our party are permitted to go into the women's 
apartments. It is not polite for a man to ask after the 
wives and daughters of his friends. The sexes are kept 
apart, and a young man seldom sees his betrothed until 
the wedding. The marriage is all arranged by the par- 
ents, and the young people are supposed to take without 
question whomsoever their fathers and mothers select. 



380 TURKEY. 

In many Mohammedan families the men and women do 
not eat together, nor do they associate with one another at 
parties; and as we have seen, whenever a woman goes 
about on the street, she keeps her face well covered. 

The Turks are very polite. They are continually making 
elaborately courteous remarks to one another. When we 
meet them, they accost us by saying in Turkish, " May 
thy day be happy," and if we would be as polite as they 
are, we must reply, " May thy day be happy and blessed." 

They are very hospitable, and we are frequently asked 
out to dinner. They usually eat but two meals a day, one 
at ten o'clock in the morning, and the other at sunset, 
although they may take a cup of coffee on rising. They 
do not use tables, but have their meals served on tra^s, 
some of which are as large around as a washtub. In the 
center of each tray is a mat on which the hot dishes are 
put with the salt, pepper, pickles, and other such things 
about them, new trays being brought in with the different 
courses. At a real Turkish meal, in the interior, every 
person has his own spoon, and helps himself to the soup 
in his turn. Meat and other viands are often brought 
on cut in small pieces, and are eaten with the fingers. 
The people are very dainty in using their fingers, touching 
the food only with the thumb and two first fingers, or dip- 
ping it out with a piece of bread doubled up and held in 
the hand. One Turk being asked if he did not think our 
way was more cleanly, said, " Every one knows whether 
he has washed his fingers, but you never can tell who 
washes the knives and forks ! " 

We find the food very good. One of the most com- 
mon dishes is pilaf (pe'laf), made of rice and chopped 
meat stewed together. This is served at almost every 
dinner, and when well cooked is delicious. We enjoy the 



IN MODERN GREECE. 38 1 

Turkish fig paste and the nougat, or candy of nuts and 
sugar, and also the rose jam which the servant brings in 
with a glass of water and a spoon. We eat the jam in 
the approved Turkish fashion, taking first a spoonful of 
jam, and then a swallow of water, which dissolves the jam 
and leaves a taste of perfume in the mouth. 



:>:*;< 



XXXIX. IN MODERN GREECE. 

HOW would you like to make a trip into Fairyland ? 
There is a little country not far from Constantinople 
from which have come some of the strangest stories ever 
told. There are stories of huge giants who breathed forth 
fire and flame, who were conquered by Hercules ; stories 
of Pegasus, a horse which had wings so that it flew through 
the air, carrying its master over mountains and seas ; stories 
of Io, a beautiful maiden who was turned into a snow- 
white cow through the jealousy of the goddess Juno ; and 
stories of the soldiers of Ulysses, who among their other 
experiences were changed into swine by the wicked witch 
Circe. There are stories of gods and goddesses, of sweet 
singing sirens, of horrible harpies who were half bird and 
half woman, of centaurs who were half horse and half 
man; so many strange stories, in fact, that I must not 
stop even to mention them all. You may read of them, 
perhaps, in the poems of Homer, who lived there several 
thousand years ago, or in the " Tanglewood Tales" and 
" Wonder Book " of our own Nathaniel Hawthorne, who 
has retold these old stories in a beautiful way. 

This wonderful land is Greece. It is a little country con- 
sisting of some mountainous islands and the mountainous 



382 



GREECE. 



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peninsula which extends from the foot of the Balkan 
Peninsula between the ^Egean and Ionian seas. Greece 
is only about as big as our state of West Virginia, and it is 
so wild and rugged that most of the land cannot be culti- 
vated, but it has nevertheless been one of the most impor- 
tant countries of the world. It was the birthplace of our 
civilization. When the rest of Europe was inhabited by 
savages and wild animals, Greece had cities and towns and 
cultivated farms. It had many little republics, each with 
its own government and its own laws. 



IN MODERN GREECE. 383 

The Greeks were then noted for their strength and 
beauty, and they often held public games where the men 
and boys from everywhere came to try who was the strong- 
est and most skillful. They were artistic, and they built 
some of the grandest temples and carved some of the 
most beautiful statues the world has ever known. They 
were learned ; they had famous orators, poets, and schol- 
ars ; and their language was so beautiful, and their methods 
of thinking so clear, that the literature of ancient Greece 
has always been a source of inspiration to scholars every- 
where ; it is still studied in the colleges all over the world. 

The ancient Greeks became a great commercial nation. 
The country has many excellent harbors, so that its people 
naturally have always taken to the sea. Their huge boats, 
propelled by triple banks of oars, went to all parts of the 
Mediterranean Sea, exchanging the choicest products of 
Greece for those of other lands. 

They became so rich after a time that other nations 
made war upon them. They resisted the attacks of the Per- 
sians, but were conquered later by the Romans, who read- 
ily assimilated Greek culture and refinement, and in time 
carried the Greek civilization with them along the Rhine, 
and to all parts of southern Europe. Hundreds of years 
later this same civilization, developed and modified some- 
what by the different peoples that transmitted it, came 
with our forefathers to North America ; so that the little 
country of Greece was really the originator of much of 
our own manners and customs and thought. 

All this, however, came from the ancient Greeks, who 
lived long before Christ was born. Since that time the coun- 
try has been conquered again and again; and its people 
have been so oppressed and ill treated by their savage 
victors that it has at times become almost barbarous. The 



384 . GREECE. 

Goths overran it during the Middle Ages ; and when the 
Turks captured Constantinople they took possession of it, 
and ruled it in their miserable way until shortly after the 
beginning of the last century, when the Greeks rebelled, 
and through the assistance of some of the great nations 
of Europe again became an independent people. They 
have now their own Parliament, elected by themselves, 
and a King who is a descendant of the royal family of 
Denmark ; and they are rapidly improving in civilization 
and wealth, as we shall observe during our travels among 
them. 

We have left Constantinople by steamer, and have come 
to Athens, the capital of Greece. What a beautiful city 
it is, and how modern ! It has many magnificent build- 
ings of the purest white marble, and thousands of two, 
three, and four story houses of brick covered with stucco. 
The walls of the houses are either white, or of the most 
delicate pinks, blues, and yellows, so that we seem to be in 
a city of many colored marbles, roofed with red tiles. The 
streets are paved with cobbles, and the sidewalks with flag- 
stones. There are palaces with gardens about them, and 
parks filled with trees and beautiful flowers. The business 
sections look like those of an American town, and the 
stores have plate glass windows, displaying all sorts of 
beautiful goods. 

Do you hear that locomotive ? That shrill whistle an- 
nounces the arrival of the steam cars from The Piraeus 
(pl-re'us), the seaport of Athens, which is over the plain 
about five miles away ; and that bell that you hear is rung 
by the conductor on that street car over there, by which 
we can ride to any part of the city. 

We thought we were coming to one of the oldest places 
of the world ; but we seem to be in one of the newest, 



IN MODERN GREECE. 385 

until we take a stroll outside the town, through the ruins 
which are lying about on every side. We realize still more 
that we are on the site of old Athens when we climb the 
Acropolis. This is a gigantic block or hill of rose-colored 
stone which rises almost straight up above Athens on the 
edge of the city. Upon its top there is a plateau of about 
ten acres covered with broken columns, marble statues, 




The Acropolis. 

and the remains of the most wonderful buildings of ancient 
Greece. Here are the ruins of the Parthenon ; the great 
columns which once upheld the roof of that beautiful tem- 
ple still rest on their pedestals; here was the statue of 
Athena, the goddess of war, which was thirty-eight feet 
high and made of ivory and gold. Near the Parthenon 
are the ruins of another temple, with a portico upheld by 
tall Grecian maidens in marble ; and there are so many 



386 



GREECE. 



other wonderful ruins to be seen outside Athens, and in 
other parts of Greece, that it would take many months to 
explore them. 

We are more interested in the Greeks of to-day. Notice, 
for instance, that man driving some goats, who is now 




" — a portico upheld by tall Grecian maidens in marble." 

coming toward us. He is dressed in short skirts and tight 
trousers, with an embroidered jacket which comes to his 
waist. He has red shoes with black tassels as big as a 
chestnut bur on the toes, and a red nightcap on his head. 
He is one of the milkmen of Athens, and lives in the coun- 




IN MODERN GREECE. 387 

try near by. See, he has stopped at that house over there 
and is kneeling beside one of his goats. He is milking it 
for the servant girl who stands by his side and looks on. 
The most of the Athenians drink goat's 
milk, and to be sure they get it fresh 
and unwatered, they insist that the goats 
be driven from house to house and 
milked at their doors. 

Do you want a ripe orange, or some 
figs fresh from the trees? If so, you 
can buy them cheap of that Greek boy 
coming down the street; he is driving 
two little donkeys loaded with baskets of 
fruit. Greece has many fine fruits. It "He is dressed in 
has the most delicious of oranges, and short skirts -" 
they are so cheap that we can buy all we can eat for a 
very few cents. 

But perhaps you desire something sweeter ! Well, in 
that case we shall call over that old woman, who is walk- 
ing along on the opposite sidewalk behind the fruit ped- 
dler. She has a thick comb of honey fastened to a branch 
in her hand. It is the honey of Hymettus, and it was 
gathered by the bees from the yellow flowers which grow 
on the mount of that name. It has a delicious flavor ; the 
honey of Hymettus has been noted for ages. Greece is a 
land of sweet-smelling, honey-filled flowers, and the bees 
work as hard here as anywhere else in the world. 

But look at the boy who is coming out of the street at 
the left ! He is carrying a big dish of smoking roast meat. 
Behind him comes a girl with a plate of baked fish sprinkled 
with onions, and farther back are several children carrying 
loaves of hot bread and other things fresh from the fire. 
Where can they be going ? They must be on their way to 



388 GREECE. 

supply some great public dinner. No ; each child is carry- 
ing only the food for its own family. The dishes were 
dressed at home and taken to the baker to be cooked in 
his oven at so much a dish. The Greeks have small 
kitchens, and their ordinary cooking stove is not fitted 
for roasting and baking. It is a brick or stone ledge 
built about three feet high against the wall, with several 
small holes in the top. Each hole has a grating and an 
opening below it in the side, which furnishes the draft. 
Upon the grating a little charcoal is put, and the fire is 
made hotter by fanning. Only boiling and stewing can 
easily be done on such stoves ; so when a family has a 
large roast it sends it out to the baker. 

If we follow those boys and enter their houses, we shall 
discover that the poorer Greeks live very simply. Many 
families have but two rooms, one often serving as dining 
room, bedroom, and kitchen; some of the houses are 
built around courts without yards or gardens. The better 
classes have homes much like those we saw in Berlin, 
Vienna, and Paris. They live in apartments or flats, a 
number of families in the same house, only the rich 
having separate houses. 

We see all sorts of peddlers as we go on with our walk. 
There are men with lemonade and candies, and men ped- 
dling onions, and garlic, which they have woven together 
in ropes and sell at so much a string. There are men 
driving turkeys along from house to house, so that the cus- 
tomers may pick out the turkeys they want from the flock. 
There are men in skirts and red caps riding on horses and 
donkeys, and men, women, and children, dressed as we 
are, in carriages, driven by coachmen in skirts and red 
caps. There are private soldiers wearing the jackets and 
petticoats, which form a part of the national uniform, and 



IN MODERN GREECE. 



389 



smart-looking officers in suits of white linen. There are 
many priests dressed in black gowns and high caps, which 
remind us of the churches of Russia, for the Greeks and 
the Russians have much the same faith, and nearly all 
here belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. 

There is a great deal of business done on the streets. 
We see women wearing the long, loose gowns of the 
country, knitting outside their houses, and shoemakers 
pegging away on the steps. There 
are cafes everywhere with tables out- 
side them, surrounded by men who 
are playing dominoes while they chat 
and drink coffee. The coffee is black, 
and costs two or three cents a cup. 
Some of the men are very excited. 
They are talking politics ; for these 
people are great politicians, and even 
the waiters at the hotels and the 
drivers on the street cars think they 
know just how the governments of 
the whole world should be run. 

The Greeks have their own political 
parties, and elect the Parliament which 
makes all their laws. They are patri- 
otic, and very proud of their progress 
since they became free of the Turks. 
They have built hundreds of miles of railroads. They now 
have public schools all over Greece, which all children are 
required to attend. The Greeks are fast becoming well 
educated. The boys and girls are anxious to learn, and 
we shall meet few who can not read and write. The 
school books are in the same characters that the ancient 
Greeks used, and it is not uncommon to hear a boy recite 

CARP. EUROPE 24 



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We see women wear- 
ing the long, loose 
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390 GREECE. 

che tales of Homer in the original, or repeat the orations 
of Demosthenes, a famous Greek orator who lived over 
twenty-two centuries ago. 

Athens has again become a seat of learning. It has a 
university with thousands of students, a girl's college which 
is one of the largest and best of the Far East, and many 
scientific institutions. Fifty different newspapers and 
periodicals are published, most of them in the Greek text. 
Many of the people speak several languages, and we fre- 
quently meet girls and boys of eight and ten years who 
address us in English. We learn that scholars come here 
from all parts of the world to study the ruins of old Greece 
and the wonderful collections in the museums; and we spend 
some time at the American College, where students from 
our own country come to study Greek literature and art. 

We are surprised at the wealth of Athens and at the 
extent of Grecian commerce and trade. The ports are 
crowded with shipping. The country has several hundred 
merchant steamers, and more than three thousand sailing 
vessels in addition to numerous coasters. Owing to the 
excellent harbors and the nearness of all parts of the coun- 
try to the coast, many of the Greeks become sailors, and 
Greek ships now do a large part of the business of the 
Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Greeks almost monopolize the trade of this part of 
the world. They have established Greek banking houses 
and stores at all ports of Asia Minor and Egypt, and at 
the chief cities along the Black Sea and the ^Egean Sea. 
There are many more Greeks living outside Greece than at 
home. There are about eight millions of them in the world, 
and only a little more than two millions live in Greece, the 
others having gone abroad as sailors or to engage in com- 
merce. They are so successful as traders that it is a com- 



IN MODERN GREECE. 39 1 

mon saying in the countries about the eastern side of the 
Mediterranean Sea, that one Greek is equal to two Jews 
at a bargain, and every one knows that the Jews are shrewd 
traders. 

But suppose we leave Athens and take a trip across the 
peninsula to Corinth, where we can get a vessel which will 
land us in Italy. We go by rail, stopping now and then 
at a station for a drive off into the country. How beauti- 
ful everything looks ! The sky is bright blue, there is a 
silvery tinge to the mountains, and the shadows of the 
fleecy clouds make patches of dark blue velvet on the 
silver gray hills. We pass through fields of wheat, barley, 
and rye, in which great blood-red poppies are growing. 
We go by orange groves, where the yellow balls peep at 
us out of the green foliage, and see thousands of gnarly 
olive trees with the plumlike fruit ripening upon them. 

There are fine-looking men and women at work in the 
fields gathering the crops. They are cutting the grain with 
sickles and scythes, and tying it into sheaves with their 
hands. Nearly all the farming is of the rudest descrip- 
tion. The fields are hoed or spaded instead of being 
plowed, and all the seeds are sown by hand. There are 
many small farms, and the farmer in most cases owns the 
land that he tills. 

As we near Corinth we enter a region of vineyards, and 
should we go on south across the Corinth peninsula, we 
should see hill after hill covered with vines. It is these 
vineyards that yield the Zante currants, the seedless 
grapes or raisins which are shipped to all parts of the 
world. They form the chief export of Greece and bring 
in many millions of dollars a year. Shiploads of them go 
to the United States ; and I doubt not every one of us has 
eaten them again and again in puddings and cakes. They 



392 ITALY. 

are not much bigger than peas, but they have such a deli- 
cious flavor that there are no other grapes equal to them, 
and they grow best right here near Corinth. It is from 
Corinth that their name, currant, comes ; and our currants, 
although they are a different fruit, were probably named 
after the Zante currant on account of the similarity in size 
and appearance. 

We see the people picking the grapes. Hundreds of 
men, women, and children are gathering them and laying 
them out on trays to dry in the sun. After drying they 
are packed up in boxes and crates, and then sent to Patras 
and other ports. 

XL. VENICE. 

WE take ship at Corinth and steam out through the 
Gulf of Patras into the Mediterranean Sea. The 
sky is bright, the water is a deep blue, and in the bright 
sunlight the mountains seem to be dusted with silver. We 
sail in and out among the Ionian Islands, and then turn 
to the north, and are soon going through the Strait of 
Otranto into the Adriatic. We sail up this long narrow 
sea for two days, coasting by Albania and the inde- 
pendent little country of Montenegro (see map, p. 406), 
and on the third morning find ourselves at anchor in front 
of a great city which seems to rise up out of the waves. 
There are thousands of buildings apparently resting in 
water, which flows through the streets, and washes the 
walls of the houses. There is water to the right, and 
water to the left, between the city and the shore ; and by 
climbing up the mast of our steamer we can look over and 
see water behind the city. 



VENICE. 



393 



And still the shore is everywhere but a few miles away. 
It is low and marshy on the water's edge, but farther back; 
the land rises, and away off in the distance is a wall of high 
mountains, their peaks covered with snow. Those moun- 
tains are the Italian Alps, the other side of which we 
explored while in Switzerland ; and the country off which 
we are lying, extending hundreds of miles to the westward 
and southward, is the great kingdom of Italy, which we are 
now to explore. 

The city in front of us is Venice, the Queen of the Adri- 
atic, a mighty port which has grown up on about one hun- 
dred little islands away out here in the sea. The islands have 
bridges connecting them. They are covered with houses 
and are so cut up by canals that the water itself seems to 
form the foundations of the city ; the canals are the streets. 




Grand Canal and the Rialto. 



394 ITALY. 

Our steamer sails up into one of the widest of these 
water highways. It is the Grand Canal, an avenue of 
water wider than one of the boulevards of Paris, filled 
with barges, launches, and all sorts of queer little boats 
moving to and fro. In Venice almost all the traffic is 
carried on by boats. There is not a dray, a cart, nor 
a carriage in the whole city. There is not a cow nor 
horse, there are not even the little donkeys of which we 
saw so many in Greece. The hucksters and vegetable 
peddlers go about in boats from door to door, stopping 
under the kitchen windows to cry out their wares. The 
cargo from the steamers is taken in barges to the factories 
and warehouses. People go calling in boats, and many of 
the children use boats in going to and from school. 

The houses rise abruptly from the canals, and you can 
step from your house right into your boat. There are no 
front yards, back yards, or side yards, and a Venetian boy 
never swings on his father's front gate. The streets are 
usually back of the houses. They are narrow stone pave- 
ments bordering the canals, and are for foot passengers 
only. They wind in and out, crossing the canals by bridges 
so arched that boats can pass under them, and in our 
walks we shall be always going up and down hill. 

But see those odd-looking boats coming out to the 
steamer. They are long and narrow, and turned up at 
the ends, with a little cabin in the center. They are 
painted black, and the only sign of color about them is in 
the bright cushions which can be seen through the cabin 
windows. Those are gondolas, the water cabs of Venice, 
in which we shall make our trips through the city. At 
the stern of each boat stands the gondolier, who is sculling 
it along with an oar which he twists from side to side, 
swaying to and fro as he does so. 



VENICE. 



395 




The Water Cabs of Venice. 



We motion to one of them to come to the ship and give 
us a ride through the city. The gondolier moves his boat 
to the gangway ; he helps us aboard, and we step inside 
the cabin. He then takes his place at the stern, and we 
soon hear the splash, ^_ 

splash, splash of his 
oar as he sculls us 
on through one street 
after another. We 
move up the Grand 
Canal, among craft 
large and small, past 
palaces which have 
been turned into hotels and warehouses, by great factories 
with humming machinery, and on by the homes of the 
people, where families are sitting out on their balconies, 
chatting, and enjoying the air. 

Now we are floating under the parlor windows of a 
magnificent house, and the music of a piano comes down 
to us. We hear the soft strumming of a guitar in the 
hands of one of a pleasure party rowing toward us, while 
the cries of hucksters peddling vegetables, fish, and fruits 
from other boats sound loudly over the water. 

We tell the gondolier to turn into the smaller canals, 
and are soon floating through alleys so narrow that we can 
touch the stone walls on either side. The high houses 
shut out the sun, and the water seems black in the shadows, 
while our walled road is roofed with a strip of blue sky. 

What a lot of strange things are going on in the canal. 
We see men and boys in swimming suits diving down into 
the water and floating about. Here are the playgrounds 
of the children. Every boy in Venice must learn to swim, 
and the little ones take to the water like ducks. There is 



396 ITALY. 

a boy now diving out of the side window of his house, and 
there is another crawling up out of the water to the front 
door. There are women washing clothes on the steps of 
their houses, and drying them on the roofs or on ropes 
stretched from one house to another across the canals. 
Farther on are some children in boats, and beyond them 
are passenger boats going from one part of the city to 
another. 

Leaving the smaller canals, we come again into the Grand 
Canal, our gondola rocking up and down in the waves 
of the larger boats passing near it ; we stop for a moment 
to look at a great marble bridge which crosses the canal 
from one island to another. This bridge is the Rialto, 
one of the most famous bridges of the world. It is more 
than three hundred years old, and was formerly noted 
as one of the business centers of Venice. It swarms 
with foot passengers from daylight to dark. It is so wide 
that shops have been built upon it, and passing over it is 
like going through the aisle of a department store where 
men, women, and children are shopping. We buy some 
oranges of the fruit peddlers at the end of the bridge, and 
then step down into our gondola and glide onward past 
some of the finest buildings of the city to the hotel. 

Our hotel is in one of the old palaces. We walk up 
marble steps, and go into wide halls floored with mosaic. 
Our bedroom is enormous; it has a stone floor, and its 
walls and ceiling are covered with paintings, so that angels 
and cupids are looking down upon us from above as we 
awake in the morning. Almost all the houses of Venice 
are built of stone brought in ships from the mainland. In 
many instances cedar piles were driven down into the sand 
to make the foundations, as in Amsterdam and St. Peters- 
burg, and upon them these great stone structures were 



Venice. 397 

built. On account of the dampness, stone and cement are 
still used for the floors, layer after layer being put on 
until a thick floor is formed. The last layer is composed 
of fine bits of colored stone carefully fitted together, and 
so rubbed down that it forms a mosaic as smooth as pol- 
ished marble or glass. 

Venice is celebrated for this sort of stonework. The 
Venetians make not only floors and walls of mosaic, but 
also the most beautiful jewelry and pictures, one picture 
often containing thousands of bits of colored stone and 
glass, so fitted together that you cannot see the joints and 
might suppose that the colors were put on with a brush. 

We spend several days in studying the industries of 
Venice. We visit the glass works, the mosaic works, and 
the factories where they are weaving beautiful silks and 
cloths of all kinds. 

We frequently go to the square of St. Mark's to look at 
the famous cathedral and the four bronze horses which 
stand high up on its front; and also the famous bronze 
lion on a tall column near by. When I said there were 
no horses in Venice I meant only flesh and blood horses. 
The horses of St. Mark's are of metal and hence do not 
count. Yet they have, probably, traveled more than any 
live horses you know. They are supposed to have once 
adorned one of the triumphal arches of Nero, the emperor 
of Rome. The Romans considered them so beautiful 
that they took them to Constantinople when that city be- 
came the capital of the Roman Empire. Later Venice 
conquered Constantinople, and brought the horses back 
here. When Napoleon overran Italy he carried them to 
Paris. There they remained until he lost his empire, when 
they were brought back to Venice. 

The square of St. Mark's is the largest square in the 



398 



ITALY. 



city, and about the only place where there is much room 
for strolling about. It is walled on three sides by build- 
ings which seem one vast marble palace, blackened by age 
and the weather, with this square in the center. On the 
other side of the square is Saint Mark's cathedral. 




Saint Mark's. 

The lower stories of some of the buildings are occupied 
by shops and cafes, which open out upon arcades, where 
in the evening thousands of men, women, and children 
walk to and fro. There are tables and chairs in the square, 
and people sitting at them eating ice cream and drinking 
coffee, chocolate, or wine, while they listen to the music of 
the military bands which play there four nights a week. 

More interesting than this is an event which occurs every 
afternoon at just two o'clock, when grain is scattered 



VENICE. 



399 



over the stones, and the pigeons come by the thousands 
from all parts of the city to eat it. We are late in 
arriving, and find the square filled with these beautiful 
birds. We buy a little bag of corn from an old woman 
peddler, and throw out several handfuls, stooping down 
as we do so. The pigeons swarm over us. They light 
upon our heads, shoulders, and backs, and even eat from 
our hands. We must be careful how we treat them, for 
if we should kill one we might have to go to jail for six 
months. This feeding the pigeons is one of the old cus- 
toms of Venice. The people love them, for it is said that 
once, when the city was in danger, it was saved by a letter 
brought by a carrier pigeon ; at another time, we are told, 
Venice gained a great victory over its enemies by infor- 
mation obtained in a 
similar way. 

We spend some time 
in wandering about 
Saint Mark's cathedral, 
which is one of the finest 
of Europe ; and then go 
through the Palace of 
the Doges, in which the 
Venetian Council sat, 
centuries ago, when the 
city was a republic. 
From the second story 
of the palace, we cross 
the canal to the prison 
near by upon the Bridge 
of Sighs. It is a cov- Brid S e of Si 2 hs * 

ered stone passageway through which the criminals came 
to be tried and punished. We stop here a moment while 




400 ITALY. 

our guide reads the verses from Byron's poem which refer 
to the city : — 

" I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs, 
A palace and a prison on each hand ; 
I saw from out the waves her structures rise 
As from the stroke of some enchanter's wand. 
A thousand years their cloudy wings expand . 
Around me, and a dying glory smiles 
O'er the far times when many a subject-land 
Looked to the winged islands' marble piles, 
Where Venice sat in state, throned on her hundred isles." 

Even the foundation of Venice is interesting. It was 
started by the Veneti, who lived near the coast on the main- 
land, when the barbarians under Attila came over the Alps 
into Italy and took Rome. The Veneti fled for refuge to 
these sandy islands, and here built their little homes. At 
first they caught fish and sold them. They evaporated the 
salt from the water, and after a time built up a great busi- 
ness in fish and salt, which were then in even greater 
demand than at present. 

As they grew richer they began to trade in other things. 
They sent out merchant vessels, and soon became the chief 
commercial people of the Mediterranean. Their islands 
were situated at the head of the Adriatic Sea; hither 
goods could be most easily brought by water to be sent 
across the low passes of the Alps ; this gave the Venetians 
a great trade with northern Europe. Their ships soon 
went to all parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black 
Sea, and in time out through the Strait of Gibraltar to 
England, France, Holland, and Belgium. 

In the Middle Ages, the fine goods from Asia were 
brought overland to the Mediterranean ports, and thence 
shipped to Venice ; from here they were carried across the 
Alps to the Rhine, and from there to all parts of northern 



VENICE. 4OI 

Europe. Other goods were sent back in exchange, and 
Venice increased in wealth. Factories of various kinds 
were established, and as the Venetians were skillful, their 
city soon became a noted manufacturing center. It grew 
more and more powerful, and in the fourteenth century it 
was an independent republic. It had its own army and 
navy, and made war on other cities and took some of 
them. Its merchants were among the richest of that time, 
and they owned three thousand trading vessels, which car- 
ried their goods to all parts of the known world. 

This was at the time of the Crusades, when all Europe 
was excited because Jerusalem and the Tomb of our Savior 
were in the hands of the Mohammedans, and armies of 
soldiers were formed to go to the Holy Land to redeem 
the city. One of the best ways thither was by way of 
Venice, so that for many years a stream of soldiers poured 
through the city, adding thereby to its wealth. 

It continued to grow until the route to India around the 
Cape of Good Hope was discovered. After that it was 
found that goods could be brought more cheaply from 
Asia by sea, and the trade of Venice began to decline. 
The discovery of the new world by Columbus was another 
blow to the prosperity of the city, for this brought the 
Atlantic ports into prominence ; and now there are several 
ports on the Mediterranean which have more commerce 
than Venice, and scores of cities in the world which are 
richer and more powerful. Venice has now less than two 
hundred thousand people, although it has grown through 
the opening of the Suez Canal, by which it has regained 
some of its Asiatic trade. A railroad has been built which 
connects it with the mainland, and goods from Asia now 
come by way of the canal to Venice, and are sent on through 
the tunnels in the Alps to central and northern Europe. 



402 ITALY. 



XLI. NORTHERN ITALY. 

WE have left Venice, and are riding on the railroad 
through the rich plains of Lombardy. On the north 
we can see the mighty snow-capped wall of the Alps, which 
shuts Italy off from the other countries of Europe, and not 
far to the southward is the long range of the Apennines, 
which extends down through the peninsula clear to its foot. 
We are traveling over some of the richest soil of all Europe, 
so rich that it produces two crops of grain every year, and, 
in the irrigated portions, as much as ten crops of grass. 
The plain of Lombardy is the basin of several large rivers, 
such as the Po and the Adige (a-de'je). It is twice as 
large as Massachusetts and about one half of it is composed 
of irrigated lands. 

We ride for hours through rice fields, through grain 
fields and plantations of cotton, passing many orchards 
and vineyards. There at the right of the track they are 
cutting the grass; the men are mowing it down with 
scythes, and women and boys are turning it over with long 
poles, while others are raking the dry hay together. There 
are no mowing machines ; many of the fields are spaded 
and hoed, and the plowing is done with old-fashioned 
wooden plows tipped with iron. 

The chief business of Italy is farming. The country has 
a great deal of excellent land. There are rich valleys on 
both sides of the Apennines, and many plains upon which 
millions of cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys are pastured. 
There are vineyards which produce grapes so abundantly 
that Italy ranks next to France as the chief wine-producing 
country of the world, and there are orchards of olives, 
oranges, and lemons in almost all parts of the peninsula. 



NORTHERN ITALY. 403 

Much of the land is owned in large tracts, and let on 
shares. In some districts the people who live in the moun- 
tains come down in families and bands to work in the har- 
vest fields. Each band has its own leader, who makes all 
the arrangements as to wages, and who tells the men, 
women, and children just what they shall do. The wages 
are very low, good-sized boys and girls getting but a few 
cents a day. 

But suppose we leave our train at this station, and visit 
one of the villages to find out how the farmers live. The 
houses are of rough stone and mortar, and in some cases 
covered with stucco. The smaller houses have but two 
rooms, a kitchen on the ground floor and a bedroom above. 
The floor is of brick, stone, or earth, and everything is of 
the rudest description. The window panes are of paper, 
and the furniture of many a house consists of a bench, two 
or three chairs, and a table. We look about in vain for 
beds. The children sleep on the floor of the kitchen, and 
the grown people on great sacks of straw laid on the plank 
floor of the room above. 

That brick ledge at the side of the room is the cook 
stove. Those little basinlike holes in the top are for char- 
coal, and the draft comes up through the holes in the side. 
They are much like the stoves of the Greeks. The baking 
is usually done in an oven outside the house, and such 
families as do not have ovens take their bread to the pub- 
lic bakeries, as we saw them doing in Greece. 

The Italian peasants live plainly. Their food is chiefly 
bread and a corn meal mush called polenta, with now 
and then a bit of meat or some coarse macaroni. The 
farmer often goes out to work after eating only a piece 
of dry bread. At eight o'clock he stops for another meal 
of dry bread, and at eleven comes home for his breakfast 



404 



ITALY. 



of corn meal mush, and perhaps some vegetable soup. At 
night he has a dinner of corn meal soup or bean soup, 
with some rice or macaroni. As a rule he has meat only 
on feast days, but he eats plenty of onions, garlic, and let- 
tuce, with olive oil as a dressing. In some parts of Italy 
the people eat a great quantity of chestnuts, roasting them, 
or grinding them to a meal and mixing them with flour for 
their bread. The nuts are not so sweet as our chestnuts, 
but they are three times as large ; many are bigger than 
horse-chestnuts. 

The houses we have described are among the poorest 
of Italy, but there are thousands like them. There are 

also thousands of coun- 
try houses much better, 
where each family has 
several rooms, and there 
are houses still larger 
owned by well-to-do peas- 
ants. There are castles 
and palaces belonging to 
the nobility, and large 
tenement houses in the 
cities, where many fami- 
lies are crowded together, 
each having but one or 
two rooms. The most of 
the peasants are poor 
and their homes are little 
better than hovels. 
As we travel from one part of Italy to another, we 
discover that the peasants dress differently in the different 
sections. In Lombardy they wear cotton clothing while 
at work in the fields. Many go barefooted, and some 




Italian Peasants. 



NORTHERN ITALY. 405 

wear wooden shoes, not unlike those we saw in Holland 
and Belgium. On Sundays and feast days the young 
men wear clothing of wool mixed with silk. Many of 
them have jackets and knee breeches of cotton velvet, 
hats of soft felt, and thick leather shoes. At such times 
the women wear dresses of wool — or in some rare cases 
silk ; an Italian woman's greatest ambition is to own a silk 
gown. In many places the women wear square pieces of 
embroidered muslin on their heads instead of bonnets or 
hats, and some have bead necklaces of gold, silver, or gilt. 
The Italian peasants are very good looking, the most of 
them having dark hair and eyes and dark rosy faces. 

Many of the poorer Italians carry on some kind of work 
in their homes. The people are very artistic, and the men 
do beautiful carving and painting. They also manufacture 
all sorts of small articles. The women knit, spin, and weave, 
and even the little children do their share of such work. 

How would you like to raise silkworms? There are 
more than a half million people engaged in this business 
in Italy, and of these many thousands are little boys and 
girls. Italy produces more than one hundred and fifty 
million pounds of silk cocoons every year, and it has a 
large industry in silk weaving and reeling. We pass by 
groves of mulberry trees as we go on with our journey. 
It is upon the leaves of these trees that the silkworms 
feed, and the soil of northern Italy is just right for grow- 
ing them. We see little children of six and eight years 
gathering the leaves, and spreading them out upon the 
trays where the worms are. The worms bite off bits of 
the leaves and eat them. In some places thousands of 
worms are feeding, and as we stand and look on we can 
hear the chopping of their jaws as they cut up the green 
leaves. 









"XemTi^ilvenice' 



G> 



Theieaiipel ,- 






/N I A 

irajevo 




Longitude East from Greenwich 



After feeding in this way for a time, the worms are 
ready to spin their cocoons. They draw the silk out of 
their bodies, and wrap it around and around themselves 
in an egg-shaped cocoon, each making a little house for 
itself, where it hopes to lie until it comes out a butterfly. 
After the cocoons are made, the people boil them to kill 
the worms inside, and then unwind the silk, and by doub- 
ling it again and again, and twisting it together, they make 
the thicker thread from which silk cloth is woven. 



NORTHERN ITALY. 



40; 



Italy, as we know, has long been noted for its silks, for 
you may remember we have already heard how the silk 
weavers of Italy went to Lyons, France, during the Middle 
Ages, to make silk. At the present time the best silks of 
Europe are made in France and Germany, and millions of 
pounds of Italian cocoons are shipped there every year 
to be turned into silks. We see more people reeling silk 
as we go on toward the slopes of the Alps, and to the 
beautiful Italian lakes, and we find great quantities of 
beautiful silk goods in the stores of Milan and Genoa. 




Milan Cathedral. 



We are delighted with Milan, for it has such a business 
air about it that it reminds us of our American cities. It 
is situated in the heart of the rich plain of Lombardy, 
where it can easily be reached from northern Europe by 



CARP. EUROPE — 25 



408 ITALY. 

the railroad tunnels through the Alps, so that it has be- 
come a great commercial center. It now contains more 
than a half million people, and is one of the best busi- 
ness cities of Europe. It has fine buildings of marble, as 
well as big stores, broad streets, and beautiful parks. Its 
people are good looking, and are noted for their wealth 
and fine dressing. 

The Milanese are very proud of their city, and espe- 
cially of their cathedral, which is one of the most beauti- 
ful in the whole world. The Milan cathedral is a great 
Gothic structure, made o'f the purest white marble beauti- 
fully carved. There are marble statues on every part of 
it, so many indeed that we count several thousands, and 
then leave off in despair. We climb up the four hundred 
and ninety-four steps of the tower for the magnificent 
view which we there get of the city, the Alps, and the 
plain of Lombardy, and then take train for Genoa, the 
birthplace of Columbus. 

We see the monument of Columbus as we leave the 
railroad station. It is a white marble statue standing near 
an anchor, with a marble figure kneeling before it, and 
other figures representing America, geography, religion, 
strength, and wisdom sitting about. 

Columbus was born in Genoa in 1436. He was the 
son of a wool comber, but his father gave him a good 
education, and he began life as a sailor. He had already 
made a number of voyages when he applied to Genoa for 
money that he might attempt to discover a new route to 
India by sailing to the westward, but he was refused. 
He then laid his plans before the courts of Spain, Portu- 
gal, and England, and finally persuaded King Ferdinand 
and Queen Isabella of Spain to give him the three small 
ships with which he found the new world. 



NORTHERN ITALY. 409 

Genoa, in the time of Columbus, was a very great city. 
It was a rival of Venice, and its people owned numerous 
islands in the Mediterranean. They had their factories 
and business houses in Constantinople, Asia Minor, and 
along the Black Sea, and their ships went to all parts of 
the known world. 

Genoa has an excellent harbor, and it is to-day an im- 
portant port and a great manufacturing center. It is so 
beautiful that its people call it "La Superba," or the 
superb city. The land about the harbor rises in hills 
which are backed by the Apennines. The houses cover 
the hills, and in our walks about through the streets we 
seem to be always climbing up or going down. The most 
of the buildings are large; many of them were erected 
as palaces by the rich nobles and merchants of ancient 
Genoa, and many are now divided up into apartments so 
that a score of families may live in one old palace. In 
most of the buildings, the first and second floors are given 
up to offices and stores, while the floors higher up are the 
dwellings. 

Some of the streets are very narrow, winding about 
between walls a hundred feet high with breaks at the 
cross streets. The people who live in such streets have 
no gardens, and they stretch wires or ropes from building 
to building, and from window to window, to dry their wash- 
ing upon them, so that at times we have to walk carefully 
to avoid the dripping water. 

We drive out to the Aqua Sola, the great park of 
Genoa, and afterward to the Campo Santo, its strange ceme- 
tery, where many of the monuments are statues represent- 
ing the dead as they looked while alive. We spend some 
time in the shops, admiring the fine silks and velvets and 
the silver and gold filigree work for which the city is 



410 



ITALY. 



noted, and then take a train for Rome, stopping at Pisa, 
Leghorn, and Florence on the way. 

At Pisa we see the wonderful leaning tower, and at 
Leghorn watch the making of hats and straw braid. At 
Florence we visit the great cathedral, the bell tower of 

Giotto, and the cele- 
brated picture galler- 
ies, which are among 
the finest of the world. 
We stroll along the 
River Arno, which 
flows through the 
town, and make ex- 
cursions into the fer- 
tile plains of Tuscany, 
driving through vast 
vineyards and groves 
of olives and oranges. 
The scenery is very 
beautiful, and we re- 
gret we cannot spend 
months exploring the 
country. 

We make an excur 
sion, however, to the 
tiny republic of San 
Marino, situated on a 
rocky hill in the Apennines, about a half mile from the 
sea. This republic is, perhaps, the smallest of the world. 
It is only twenty-four miles square, and it has a popula- 
tion of only about eight thousand ; but its inhabitants 
have governed themselves for hundreds of years, while the 
other countries of Europe have been governed by kings. 




" We see the wonderful leaning tower.' 



ROME, THE CAPITAL OF ITALY. 411 



XLII. ROME, THE CAPITAL OF ITALY. 

ITALY is shaped like a great boot, about half as wide as 
from New York to Washington, and about as long 
as from New York to Toledo. The top of the boot ex- 
tends out in a wide flap up the foothills of the Alps, and 
the toe looks just as though it were about to kick the 
island of Sicily. Not far from the center of the front of 
the boot, just where the middle of the shin would be, if it 
were a human leg, a little river flows out of the Apennine 
Mountains down to the Mediterranean. It passes over a 
wide plain called the Campagna, and as it nears the sea it 
flows by seven little hills, which, for more than two thou- 
sand years, have formed the site of one of the greatest 
cities of the world. This river is the Tiber, and the city 
is Rome, the capital of Italy. 

When Rome was first settled, the Tiber was deeper 
than it now is, and sea-going vessels came right up to 
the hills. The town, being on the hills, could be easily 
defended ; and the rich country about it was well fitted for 
pasture and farming. There were easy ways over the 
mountains to other parts of Italy, and ships could be sent 
out to all the lands of the Mediterranean ; so you see the 
situation of Rome helped to make it a great city and the 
capital of Italy. The race which founded it was brave and 
warlike, and it soon conquered the whole Italian peninsula, 
and made war upon nation after nation outside, until in 
time it formed the great Roman Empire, and became 
master of almost all the known world. 

At that time the chief civilized nations lived about the 
Mediterranean Sea. Italy has the most central position 
of all countries on this sea. It has excellent harbors, and 



412 ITALY. 

one of the best situations for commerce and trade. The 
Romans cultivated their territory largely by means of the 
slaves that they took in war, and as time went on they grew 
richer and richer. Their city became not only the capital 
of the world, but also the center of all that was inspiring 
in art and learning. The Romans had magnificent palaces 
and great public works. Their scholars wrote books, 
which are even now studied in our colleges; and their 
language, laws, and customs form a part of our civilization. 

In time the Roman Empire was broken to pieces, but 
we shall find reminders of it in the ruins which are scat- 
tered everywhere throughout the city. Centuries later 
Rome came under the control of the Pope, the head of 
the Catholic Church. This church was the chief one of 
Europe for hundreds of years, and it was the founder 
of another phase of civilization. Under it great cathe- 
drals were built, colleges were established, and some of the 
finest of the paintings of the world were made. We shall 
see evidences of all this in old Rome. We shall, at the 
same time, see the Rome of to-day, the capital of modern 
Italy, and the home of the King and his Parliament. 

We leave our hotel and drive to the top of the Pincian 
Hill for a bird's-eye view of the city, winding our way up 
over roads shaded with cypress trees, and lined with gar- 
dens and beautiful flowers. At the end of our drive we 
find ourselves on a terrace high above Rome, north of the 
city, which covers the hills to the southward and fills the 
valley of the Tiber winding along not far below us. 

That mass of huge buildings, with the high dome above 
them, on the opposite side of the river, is Saint Peter's 
cathedral, and the palace of the Vatican, where the Pope 
lives. The square at our feet, with the obelisk in it, is the 
Piazza del Popolo, and that long, straight street, which 



ROME, THE CAPITAL OF ITALY. 



413 



cuts its way through the city, dividing it almost in half, is 
the Corso, one of the chief business streets of the Rome 
of to-day. Turning to the right we see a great wall wind- 
ing its irregular way about the town, inclosing many ruins, 
some rising out of gardens and vineyards. That is the 
wall of old Rome, which was fourteen miles in circumfer- 
ence, but which incloses only a part of modern Rome. 

The ruins are of wonderful interest. We can see some 
of them from the Pincian Hill. That vast amphitheater 




" — all that is left of the Coliseum." 

beyond the buildings in front of us, with its walls half in 
ruins, is all that is left of the Coliseum, the greatest show 
ground of all times. There lions and tigefs and wild 
beasts once fought together; there half-naked men tried to. 
kill one another with swords and spears ; and there men, 
women, and children were thrown to wild beasts because 
they were Christians, to give the heathen Romans a holi- 
day show. A little to the left of the Coliseum is the 
Forum, where the Romans held their meetings when the 
city was a republic, and where the greatest of the Roman 
orations were uttered. It now looks more like an exca- 



414 



ITALY. 



vation for a building than anything else. The Rome 
of olden times was many feet below the Rome of to- 
day, but the Forum has been dug out, and it now forms 
a great pit, filled with broken columns and blocks of 
marble, in the heart of the city. 




The Forum. 

Notice the great building above the Forum. That is 
the Capitol, on the site of the citadel of old Rome. It 
is there that the Italian Senate meets, and there also is 
a museum in which are some of the finest statues which 
have come down from old Rome. Everywhere we turn, 
there are so many wonderful buildings and ruins that it 
will be impossible for us to visit them all. The city has 
scores of museums. It has many picture galleries; it 
has priceless collections of ancient manuscripts, and is 
celebrated for its paintings, sculpture, and architecture, 
as well as for its business and social advantages. 



ROME, THE CAPITAL OF ITALY. 415 

We engage carriages at the Pincian Hill and drive about 
through the streets. There are many old palaces, with 
modern buildings among them ; there are fine stores with 
plate glass windows ; there are street cars, telegraph wires, 
and all the appointments of our most modern cities. We 
can hardly realize we are in a town two thousand years 
old. We stop in the People's Square and take a drink 
from the fountain, where the water spurts forth from the 
mouths of the lions ; we pause a moment before the great 
obelisk from Egypt, and then drive on through the Corso, 
passing magnificent turnouts filled with richly dressed 
ladies and gentlemen. 

The Corso is crowded. The better classes are dressed 
as we are, and the people upon the streets look not unlike 
those of Paris and London. Now and then we see a 
peasant in a cap and short jacket, his trousers held up by 
a sash about the waist, and now a rosy-cheeked maiden in 
short skirts, with a bright handkerchief tied round her 
head. There are peddlers going about with their wares 
on their heads, and hucksters driving donkeys and mules. 
There are priests everywhere, walking along singly and in 
pairs, or in processions from one part of the town to another. 
They wear long gowns, some white, some black, and some 
brown, and many have high hats and cowls. There are 
processions of nuns and sisters of charity, for Rome is 
still the chief city of the Catholic Church, and as such it is 
a holy place to Catholics all the world over. 

We visit the Church of St. Peter. It is by far the largest 
church in the world, and we feel lost within it. We next 
wander about outside the Vatican, where the Pope lives. 
He has a magnificent palace, with four thousand rooms, 
and a library of one hundred thousand volumes, including 
some of the most valuable manuscripts ever written. 



4i6 



ITALY. 




"We visit Saint Peter's Cathedral." 

Some of our mornings are spent in driving about outside 
Rome, in the Campagna; where one day our guide takes 
us down under the earth into the Catacombs, which are 
vast caves and tunnels cut out of the soft volcanic rock. 
There are miles of these tunnels, some lined with cells and 
shelves which contain human bones. They are not far 
from the city, and were probably first dug as the burial 
places of the Romans. Later on, when the Christians 
were persecuted, they fled to them for refuge, and lived 
here for years, away down out of the light of the sun, 
having their food brought in at night. Our guide goes in 
front with a light, taking us through tunnel after tunnel, 
and winding his way this way and that. We follow him 
closely and hold tightly to one another's hands, trembling 
at the thought of being lost away down here under the 
ground, and of trying in vain to find our way out. 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 417 

We visit the palaces of the king, and spend some time 
in Parliament watching the Italians make laws for them- 
selves. . We go to the government buildings, where we 
discover that Italy still holds an important place among 
the countries of Europe. We learn that it has a great 
army and navy, and that its inhabitants are fast growing in 
intelligence, although the education of the common people 
is still far below that of the French, Germans, or English. 
The law requires that all children be sent to school, but it 
is not always enforced, and many of the men and women 
cannot read nor write. 

We ask as to Italy's trade, and are informed that it is 
rapidly growing, and that the people are among our good 
customers. They are importing a great deal of grain, 
cotton, and other things from America, and sending back 
fruits and olive oil, as well as silk and wool and other 
goods, in exchange. 

XLIII. NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 

THE Italians have a saying, " See Naples and die," for, 
they say, you will then have seen the most beautiful 
city of the world. And indeed it is beautiful. The sky is 
almost always bright, and it is nowhere brighter than at 
Naples. The Mediterranean is almost always blue, and 
at the Bay of Naples its color is glorious. The city, as it 
rises about the bay, tier above tier, seems a city of palaces. 
There are hazy blue mountains behind it, and south of it 
is the great brown volcano of Vesuvius, with its steaming 
cone standing out against the blue sky. 

But let us see how it looks in the city itself. We leave 
our hotel and climb up through the streets. Many of 



41 8 ITALY. 

them are steep, and we are always going up or down hill. 
The high buildings are close to the sidewalks, and the 
streets are so narrow that in places the walls shut out 
the sun. They are not over clean, and in some streets 
the smells are offensive. The people live in flats or 
apartments, and in the poorer quarters of the city whole 
families dwell in one room. 

What curious things the people do on the streets ! We 
see men and women sitting down on the pavements making 
their toilets. There is a woman combing her hair, and 
here is one washing her baby. There is a cobbler at his 
bench soling a pair of old shoes, and beside him a tailor is 
working away. 

What a lot of children there are everywhere. There 
are two babies sprawling on the edge of the gutter ! Here 
comes a boy of eight driving a donkey, and there is another 
with a can in his hand pulling along two milk goats from 
door to door. He is one of the little milkmen of the city, 
and is probably helping his father, whom we see with 
those goats farther on. 

There are donkeys carrying all sorts of things. Here 
comes one loaded with fruit, and behind are two others 
ridden by boys. The donkeys are not bigger than New- 
foundland dogs, and their ears are almost as long as their 
legs. Many of the Neapolitan boys have their own donkeys, 
as our boys sometimes have ponies. 

Do you like roasted chestnuts ? There are men selling 
them here on almost every block. They have little fur- 
naces and basins of charcoal, on which they roast chest- 
nuts out in the streets. We pass fruit stands every now 
and then, and buy delicious pears for ten cents a dozen, 
and oranges two for a cent. 

See the crowd of men and women about that cook 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 419 

stand ! They are buying roast sausages and stewed maca- 
roni. Italy is famous for its macaroni, and quantities of it 
are exported to our country every year. See, there is a 
man eating some now ! He twists his fork around and 
around in the dish, and takes a great mass of it in at one 
gulp. He does not cut it, but sucks in the long strings 
until the whole has gone down his throat. 




Naples. 

Suppose we visit one of the factories and learn how 
macaroni is made. Such factories are to be seen in all 
parts of Italy, for macaroni forms a large part of the food 
of the people. It is made in different sizes and shapes, 
sometimes in long strings, sometimes in pipes as big 
around as your finger, and sometimes in sticks about as 



420 



ITALY. 



thick as a knitting needle. The finer kinds are called ver- 
micelli and spaghetti. 

We see the tubes of white dough drying on the racks in 
front of the factory, and when we go in find a score of 
men and boys hard at work. Each boy is so covered with 
flour that his dark, rosy face looks almost ghastly in con- 
trast with his sparkling black eyes. He is in his bare feet, 




Drying Macaroni. 

and his sleeves are rolled up to his shoulders. The men 
are mixing the flour into dough, and kneading it with great 
bars so fastened to hinges that they can press the dough 
down on the table. After it is thoroughly kneaded they 
carry it to a cylinder, in which there are many small holes, 
so arranged that it can be pressed through them. It comes 
out in long pipes or sticks, which the boys carry to the 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 42 1 

racks in the sun, or to the hot drying rooms which some 
factories have for the purpose. 

Let us stroll on down to the bay. It is filled with ship- 
ping, for Naples is the chief port of the Italian peninsula, 
and its harbor is one of the finest of Europe. The city is 
as big as St. Louis, and has a vast trade with all parts of 
the Mediterranean, with northern Europe, and with North 
and South America. It also does a great business in 
fish and in coral and sponges. It has many fishing vessels, 
and its people go fishing, not only in the Mediterranean, 
but out to the Atlantic and elsewhere. 

But the most interesting thing about Naples is not in 
the city itself. It is the great volcano outside, only a 
short drive away. Vesuvius is the only active volcano on 
the continent of Europe, and it is one of the most interest- 
ing volcanoes of the whole world. It is early morning 
when we start out to explore it. The first part of our 
journey is in a carriage driven by a Neapolitan coachman, 
who cracks his whip every minute and keeps his team on 
the gallop. We rattle out of the city over pavements of 
lava, now almost running over a baby, and now making the 
dogs howl, as with drooping tails they leap out of our way. 
We go through small villages of lava-built houses, by vine- 
yards and gardens walled with lava, and then up through 
foothills of volcanic sand, until we enter a region which is 
all bare, brown lava. There is lava everywhere and in all 
sorts of shapes. We pass through seas and rivers of lava 
which once flowed like fire, but which now are cold and 
dead ; and as we look up, see a column of steam hanging 
like a gigantic umbrella over a brown lava mountain, the 
volcano of Vesuvius. 

The mountain is perfectly bare. There is not a bit of 
grass to be seen anywhere. It is all lava, ashes, and vol- 



422 ITALY. 

canic sand. The road going up winds in and out until it at 
last becomes so steep that we must leave the carriages and 
mount donkeys. When about two thousand feet above the 
sea we reach the observatory, where instruments are kept to 
register the movements of the mighty volcano. How the 
earth rumbles ! It was shaking as we rode up on our 
donkeys, and here by the instruments we can see just 
what motion is going on away down in the heart of the 
mountain. 

The director of the observatory informs us that Vesu- 
vius is always more or less active, but that there is no 
present danger. He describes the first recorded eruption, 
telling us how a little more than eighteen hundred years 
ago the volcano was covered with farms, the slopes being 
cultivated almost to the top. Then there were vineyards 
all over the land where the lava and ashes now are, and 
hot springs on the edge of the mountains, where the rich 
Romans came for their health and for sport. There were 
beautiful towns on the plains near by, and, among others, 
the two fashionable resorts of Pompeii and Herculaneum. 
Pompeii contained about twenty-five thousand people. It 
was a rich residence city, and its inhabitants had beautiful 
homes, temples, and theaters. The rich were living in fine 
style, giving parties and dinners, and driving about in their 
chariots with gay prancing horses. The poor were at work 
at their trades, the merchants were selling goods in the 
stores, the children were going to school, and all sorts of 
business were being carried on, when one day, without 
warning, the great mountain burst forth, sending vast 
volumes of steam, ashes, burning rocks, and mud high 
into the air. There were so many ashes that they dark- 
ened the sun and turned the day into night. Even at 
Rome, hundreds of miles to the northward, the sun was 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 



423 



hidden. The people thought that the end of the world 
had come, and that an age when it would be always night 
had set in. 

At the same time it rained mud, and rivers of boiling 
hot mud flowed out of the crater down over the plain. 
The horses, sheep, and cattle which were pasturing there 
were drowned, the fields, the vineyards, and gardens were 




Vesuvius in Eruption. 

covered, and in the towns even the tallest buildings were 
soon buried. They all disappeared, and the region became 
a great plain of ashes and mud. As time went on new 
towns grew up on the plains, and crops of all kinds were 
raised there. The buried cities were blotted out of the 
memory of man, as the volcano had blotted them from the 
face of the earth. 

So it remained until a little more than a hundred and 

CARP. EUROPE — 26 



424 ITALY. 

fifty years ago, when a peasant who was digging a well 
struck his spade against a statue. He dug it out, and soon 
it was found that there was a city down there, buried under 
the earth. The government of Italy took possession of the 
place, and for years it has had men at work unearthing 
the city. The scholars began to investigate the history of 
the region, and it was found that the site of the lost city of 
Pompeii had been discovered. 

The great eruption occurred in the latter part of the 
first century of our era, and for a long time thereafter the 
volcano lay quiet. During the eighteenth century there 
was another terrible eruption, and in 1822 the whole top 
of the mountain burst off and formed a great chasm, three 
miles in circumference, and about half a mile deep. Since 
then other eruptions have caused streams of lava to flow 
out of the crater, until now Vesuvius seems to be only a 
vast mass of lava, rock, sand, and ashes. 

Leaving the observatory, we again mount our donkeys 
and make our way up the mountain. At last we reach the 
station from where we are to ride up to the crater by rail. 
The railroad is a little like the one up Pikes Peak, but 
more like one of our cable car lines. The track has three 
rails, one in the center which supports the weight of the 
car, and others at each side for the guiding wheels, which 
keep the car from jumping the track. The cable attached 
to the car runs around a wheel at the top of the mountain, 
and is moved by an engine at the station below. The sides 
of the car are open, and we get a magnificent view of the 
Mediterranean as we rise through the volcanic sand up the 
steep mountain. We go rapidly upward, and at last we 
stop near the crater, over four thousand feet above the sea. 
Here we hire other guides, and pick our way over the thin 
coating of lava to the mouth of the volcano. 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 



425 




Pompeii. 



The air is hot and full of sulphur fumes. We cough, 
and hold our handkerchiefs to our faces in a vain effort to 
keep out the fumes. The wind is blowing the steam away 
from the crater, and we walk carefully over the crust and 
look down into a vast pit walled with yellow sulphur, in 
the bottom of which a lake of fire is seething, sending up 
steam, ashes, brimstone, and rocks. Now it seems to be 
quiet, and now it bursts forth, throwing stones high up 
into the air. They fall back, and we can hear them splash 
away down there in the crater. But now the wind changes. 
It is rising into a gale, and the stones are falling almost at 
our feet. Our guides drag us back and hurry us away, for 
fear we may all be killed by the burning hot stones. 

This is only a gentle eruption. When the great out- 
bursts occur the noise is like that of a battle, and rocks 



426 ITALY. 

weighing many tons are shot upwards for hundreds of feet. 
About fifty years ago twenty sightseers were killed where 
we now stand, by a sudden eruption of lava, pieces of rock 
being thrown a mile high. At such times the steam rises 
to a height of more than two miles, and the whole moun- 
tain is covered by an umbrella of ashes and vapor more 
than five miles in height. 

How warm the earth is ! We dare not stand still. We 
seem to be walking upon a hot stove ; we smell our shoes 
burning ; we bend down and touch the lava with our fingers, 
but draw them away quickly, smarting with the heat. 

One of the guides asks us to look at the cracks in the 
earth ; and we see golden streams of molten lava flowing 
through them under our feet. He thrusts an iron rod into 
one of the cracks and brings out a lump of the red-hot 
metal. He asks us for a penny and he presses it into the 
mass with a stick. He then drops the lava off the rod into 
a bucket of water which a boy has brought up. The water 
hisses and steams, but the lava soon cools and the guide 
takes it out. Our penny is now embedded in the lava like 
a raisin in a bun, and we take it home as a relic. 

But see, the boy is pulling some eggs out of his pocket ! 
He points to the water, and offers to cook them for us. 
He rests the bucket over a wide crack where the molten 
lava is not far from the surface. The intense heat soon 
boils the water, and the eggs are cooked hard. We carry 
them with us back down the mountain, and eat them with 
our lunch at the railroad station below, priding ourselves 
that we are among the few Americans who have eaten 
eggs cooked on a volcano. 

We then ride back to the carriages, and drive over the 
plain to the site of the once buried city of Pompeii. There 
is a great wall about it made of the ashes and stones which 



NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS. 427 

have been already dug out ; and we find many boys and 
men digging, and carrying the stuff out in baskets on their 
backs and their heads. 

A large part of Pompeii is already uncovered, and we 
walk through streets walled with the curious buildings 
which were blotted out by Vesuvius eighteen hundred years 
ago. The earth and ashes have so preserved the buildings 
that they look to-day almost as they did at the time of the 
eruption. The roadways are paved with stone, and in 
some of them we can see the ruts made by the wheels of 
the chariots. We walk through the amphitheater where 
the people had their shows, and sit down on the marble 
seats of the bath houses where the boys of Pompeii sat 
when they had finished their baths centuries ago. 

We wander about through the houses, peopling them with 
their old Roman owners. Many buildings are of brick and 
many of stone. They are nearly all of one or two stories 
and some are very large. They had wooden roofs which 
were burned off by the ashes. Many of the houses have 
walls covered with paintings, and in some beautiful statues 
in bronze and marble were found. Some had fine paint- 
ings and all sorts of beautiful things in metals and carv- 
ings. The floors of many were formed of different colored 
stones, fitted together in mosaic pictures, and the Latin word 
" Salve" or " welcome," was carved over their doors ; while 
in one entrance floor there was a mosaic picture of a fierce 
dog gnashing his teeth, and tugging at a rope as though 
he wished to get at you, while at his feet were the words, 
" Cave Canem," or " Beware of the dog." 

We are interested in the business parts of Pompeii, 
where there are streets of shops with marble counters, 
where the merchants were selling their goods when the 
mighty volcanic flood came. We peep into a public bake 



428 SPAIN. 

oven, in which black loaves of burnt bread were found 
when the mud and ashes were first dug away. We see 
casts of men, women, and children, and even of dogs, made 
by pouring plaster of Paris into the holes which their bodies 
formed in the ashes ; and when we again visit the Museum 
of Naples, we are shown cooking utensils, toilet articles, 
rings, earrings and bracelets, fishhooks and knives, and 
thousands of other articles of every description, all in 
common use among these people when, without warning, 
they were destroyed by the ashes and boiling mud of the 
terrible mountain. 

XLIV. RURAL SPAIN. 

WE have crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Naples 
to Barcelona, and are now traveling over the high- 
lands of Spain. The country is different from any we have 
yet visited. The sun is wonderfully bright ; there are few 
clouds; the air is dry, and the weather is hot. We are 
now on the great peninsula which forms the end of south- 
western Europe, comprising the kingdoms of Spain and 
Portugal. It begins at the Pyrenees, and extends so close 
to Africa that we could go from Gibraltar to that continent 
in a small boat in a very few hours. 

The Spanish peninsula is twice as large as Great Britain, 
and larger than either Germany or France. It is a high 
plateau crossed by many ranges of snow-clad mountains, 
with rich valleys and dreary plains lying among them. It 
has but few navigable rivers, and although it is washed on 
almost all sides by the sea, its coasts are so steep that it 
has very few harbors. On the plateau the winters are 
cold, and the summers exceedingly hot, and in the far 



RURAL SPAIN. 



429 



south it is so warm that bananas, dates, and other tropical 
fruits can be grown. 

We reach the hills soon after leaving Barcelona, and 
ride for miles in the mountains, now passing through 
forests, and now crawling along above magnificent valleys 
with their many colored crops spread out like a vast quilt 
below us. Now our train flies by orange groves, and now 
through a country where for miles there are olive groves. 
We enter dense woods of chestnuts and oaks, and spend 
days upon high plains where vast flocks of sheep are graz- 
ing, watched by queerly dressed shepherds assisted by dogs. 
The sheep are the famous Spanish merinos. This breed of 
sheep has been introduced into Australia, Argentina, and 
the other great sheep-raising parts of the world. 

There are many -^-%fv*^ „ „ 



small towns with 
stone or brick build- 
ings covered with 
stucco and roofed 
with red tiles. There 
are numerous vil- 
lages in which the 
farmers live, going 
out to their work in 
the fields. Sometimes 
their farms are so far 
away that they use 
donkeys to ride back 
and forth. 

The roads are poor, 
and in the moun- 
tains everything is 
carried about on the 







S!r^*w, 



— a donkey carrying two little boys. 



430 



SPAIN. 



backs of donkeys and mules. See that fat farmer riding 
up the road at the side of the track ! He is as big as his 
donkey, and his long legs almost touch the ground as he 
urges the little beast onward. He wears a broad-brimmed, 
sharp-crowned hat, and has a great cloak on his shoulders. 
Farther down the road is a donkey carrying two little 
boys, and still farther on a drove of donkeys loaded 

with grain, each having 
a bag on his back. They 
have neither bridles nor 
saddles, and are being 
driven byasrosy-cheeked, 
barefooted boy in the 
rear. Behind comes a 
boy with a cart load of 
grass; he is leading a 
little donkey which is 
drawing the cart. We 
see donkeys laden with 
fruit, and donkeys so 
covered with loads of hay that the hay seems to be walk- 
ing off on four legs. There are also mules similarly loaded, 
and the whole of this part of Spain seems to be going mule- 
back or donkey-back. 

Now we have left the mountains, and are out on the 
plains. See the huge ox carts lumbering along the wide 
roads ! Some of them are piled high with grain. The 
oxen are yoked to the tongue of the cart by a bar which 
rests on their necks and is fastened to their horns, so that 
they pull the loads along with their heads, and not with 
the shoulders as our oxen do. 

Notice the man plowing in that field over there. He is 
goading his oxen along with a stick with a sharp-pointed 




: ' : -ftiSV^ 



" Behind comes a boy with a cart load 
of grass." 



RURAL SPAIN. 



431 



steel in the end. How simple the plow is ! It is only a 
piece of rough wood tipped with iron, and it merely 
scratches the soil. That is a fair sample of the farm 
tools of the country. 

More than half of the Spaniards are farmers, but they 
farm very poorly. They raise quantities of wheat, barley, 
corn, and rye, but they do not get half so much out of the 
land as they might with better tools. 




"See the huge ox carts! " 



A large part of Spain is so dry that little will grow upon 
it, but there are irrigated provinces which are exceed- 
ingly fertile, and yield abundant crops. They produce the 
finest of olives and grapes, oranges and lemons, and all 
sorts of vegetables. Take, for instance, the lands near the 
Mediterranean Sea about Malaga in southeastern Spain. 
In that region are grown the big green grapes sold in our 



432 SPAIN. 

stores. The soil of the vineyards is of a bright red color, 
and it is so rich that every bit of it is used. The vines are 
planted in terraces up the sides of the hills in regular rows, 
and only a few feet apart. They are carefully tended, and 
a little trench is dug about each vine to catch the water 
when it rains. The grapes are packed in cork dust, and 
thus shipped to all parts of Europe and to the United 
States. Other varieties are made into raisins, and hun- 
dreds of thousands of pounds of large Muscatel raisins are 
exported every year from Malaga Bay. In other provinces 
wine is made in large quantities, and in some regions there 
are so many vineyards that we are reminded of our travels 
through the wine country of France north of the Pyrenees. 

Another fruit of great value to Spain is the olive. There 
are olive orchards everywhere, and at one place we leave 
the train to visit a hacienda, where they are picking the 
fruit, and turning it into the oil we use on our salads. The 
old Spaniard who owns the farm bids us welcome. As 
we walk along with him he tells us that his house is at 
our disposition, and that his orchard is ours. The olive 
trees are much like plum trees, save that they are knotty 
and gnarly, and their leaves are a darker green. On some 
of them the fruit has a pale green color like the olives sold 
in our grocery stores. Such fruit is not yet ripe, but it is 
pulled off at this stage and salted for eating. On other 
trees the olives are of a dark glossy purple ; they are ripe, 
and it is of them that they are making the oil. There are 
men shaking the trees, and knocking the fruit off with 
clubs ; and rosy-cheeked, barefooted, bareheaded children 
are gathering the olives from the ground, and putting them 
into the bags and baskets in which they are carried upon 
donkeys and mules to the mill. 

There is a man starting off for the mill ; he has a half 



RURAL SPAIN. 433 

dozen donkeys, each carrying a two-bushel bag. The pro- 
prietor asks us to go with him, and we follow the donkeys 
to a rude building in which a mule is dragging one stone, 
shaped like a wheel, around through a circular trough or 
groove in the top of another stone which lies flat. This is 
the grinding machine. The olives are put into the trough 
in the flat stone, and the wheel crushes them to a pulp as it 
rolls over them. 

After being crushed, the olives are laid on straw mats, 
and these mats are placed one upon another, in a press 
where, by means of a long, heavy beam in the top as a 
lever, the oil is squeezed out into a rude tank below. 
Water is mixed with the pulp, in order to make the oil 
flow the more easily. The liquid that comes out is made 
up of water and oil, but the oil rises to the top and is 
skimmed off. The squeezed pulp is kept for fattening 
hogs, and the oil, having been cleared, is put into bottles 
for sale. Only the best of the oil is fit for the table, the 
poorer kinds being used for cooking. 

This olive plantation is not one of the finest, but it is a 
fair type of the plantations of Spain. There are many 
other estates where the olives are more carefully picked 
and handled. On such farms the fruit is pressed only 
lightly at first to get out the best oil. Afterwards it is 
ground up and mixed with boiling water and pressed 
again. 

Upon inquiring, we learn that olives grow in most parts 
of Spain, and that they are used everywhere by the 
people. About one thirtieth of all the fertile land of the 
country is devoted to olive raising, and the orchards cover 
more than two million acres. The trees are well tilled. 
They have their first fruit when two years old, and con- 
tinue to bear for so long a time that the people have this 



434 



SPAIN. 



saying : " If you would give a lasting fortune to your 
children's children, you have only to plant olive trees for 
them." 

The Spaniards use olive oil largely in cooking. We see 
the people eating it on bread and vegetables, and are told 
that it is cream and butter to many of the people, as well 
as their favorite dressing for salads. It takes the place 
of meat also, and many a Spaniard, when he takes a long 
journey, hangs a wicker basket of olives to his saddle 
horn, and eats them as he rides. 

We are delighted with the country people of Spain. 
The men, women, and children are polite, and they wear 

such gay costumes that we have 
a new picture wherever we look. 
Many of the men wear blankets 
about their shoulders ; they have 
broad-brimmed hats with sharp 
conical tops, and short jackets and 
knee breeches, their legs below 
the knees being covered with 
stockings or wrapped around with 
rags ; they wear sandals or queer- 
looking shoes. There are many 
beautiful women. Some of the 
peasant girls have caps with tas- 
sels so long that they hang down 
their shoulders. On Sunday they 
wear dresses of black velvet, over 
which they drape striped shawls of bright colors. Their 
skirts are short. Some have gaiters laced up to their 
knees, and others wear stockings bound with ribbons 
crossed over and over. In the fields we see barefooted 
women with handkerchiefs on their heads, and farther south 




' We are delighted with the 
country people of Spain." 



RURAL SPAIN. 435 

are many dark-faced peasant men in turbans. Spain has 
a large variety of strange costumes, nearly every province 
having a dress of its own. 

In the larger cities the people look much as we do, save 
that the men often wear cloaks, and the women have on 
mantillas or veils instead of bonnets ; they usually wear 
black gowns when out on the street. The Spaniards are 
a fine-looking race, and their women are famous for their 
beauty. The most of them have dark rosy faces, dark 
hair, and dark eyes, although now and then you meet a 
beautiful blonde. They age rapidly, however, the poor 
through hard work and the rich through idleness. The 
women of the upper classes take so little exercise that 
when middle-aged they become fat and dumpy. 

We are much annoyed by beggars as we travel through 
Spain ; and we observe that there are many poor people. 
The peasants live simply. Their chief food is bread and 
olives, although they sometimes have eggs, or pork, or 
goat's meat. They are fond of salt fish and salt meat, and 
with their neighbors, the Portuguese, are the greatest cod- 
fish eaters of the whole world. 

The living at the hotels is fairly good, although the break- 
fasts are scanty. When we rise in the morning we have 
only a little cup of chocolate or coffee with bread and 
butter; this meal is called " desayuno." About noon we 
have a breakfast of eggs, fish, and stew ; and at the end of 
the day a very good dinner. One of the most common 
dishes is puchero, a vegetable soup cooked with boiled 
beef or fowl. The soup is served first, and then the meat 
and vegetables which were cooked in it are brought on. 
After this we have some kind of fried meat or croquettes, 
and then perhaps fish, and after the fish a dessert and 
fruit, ending our meal with cheese and black coffee. 



436 SPAIN. 

We are surprised to see the men everywhere smoking at 
their meals. They light their cigars and cigarettes even 
when the women are present, and we are horrified at times 
to see a woman take a cigarette and smoke with them. 
This is not common in public, although many of the Span- 
ish women smoke in their homes. 

After dinner the people sit about the table and chat, and 
it is the same at the midday breakfast or luncheon. All 
business in Spain stops from noon until two o'clock, in 
order that the people may get their breakfast and have 
their siesta or their rest or sleep after it. This seems lazy 
to us, but in Spain the climate is so warm that it is not well 
for men to work in the middle of the day. 



^c 



XLV. IN THE CITIES OF SPAIN. 

ONLY a small proportion of the Spaniards live in large 
towns. The most of them are farmers and fruit 
growers whose homes are in villages scattered at wide dis- 
tances apart over the country. The chief cities, with the 
exception of Madrid, which is in the middle of the plateau, 
a half mile above the sea, are along the seacoast or in the 
river valleys of the high plains, where the water can be 
used for irrigation. 

The cities of the northern provinces are somewhat like 
the other cities of Europe. Take, for instance, Barcelona, 
where we landed at the close of our voyage from Naples. 
It is as large as Baltimore and has fine stores, theaters, and 
many cafes. It is the chief business city of Spain, having 
an excellent harbor with a rich country behind it. Its 
chief street, the Rambla, running up from the wharves, 



IN THE CITIES OF SPAIN. 



437 



is wide, and lined with rows of trees furnishing magnifi- 
cent shade. Barcelona has electric lights, street cars, and 
business buildings and houses which would do credit to 
any great city. 

Madrid, the Spanish capital, contains over a half mil- 
lion people. It is a great square town made up of im- 
mense square buildings surrounded by a wall twelve miles 





L, Jl 


-.. <-*■?:.,'-■.- ;.--." . '-'.-■'. 


1.--. u 


mag**'"' 


^ 


m*< ; ' '^* ^ 





Royal Palace. 



in length. It is the highest of the European capitals, and 
is situated almost in the center of the plateau, with dreary 
plains reaching out for miles on every side. The climate 
is far from delightful ; it is so bad that its citizens are said 
to live in an ice house for three months of the year, and 
in a furnace for the other nine months. 

We spend a week in Madrid, and although it is summer 
find it by no means uncomfortable. We follow the custom 
of the Spanish, and take a siesta in the middle of the day, 



438 SPAIN. 

driving about during the mornings and evenings. We 
usually start out on our excursions from the Puerto del 
Sol. This is the chief public square of the city, and one 
of the liveliest places in Europe. It is of the shape of a 
half moon, surrounded by high buildings, with ten wide 
avenues opening into it. From here all the street cars 
start, and here we can get cabs to take us to any part of 
the city. 

We enjoy the strange sights of the square. There are 
carriages of rich Spaniards coming in and going out of it 
in every direction; there are donkeys and mules loaded 
with all sorts of goods passing through, and now and 
then we see a regiment of soldiers moving across to the 
music of a band. The streets about the Puerto del Sol 
are usually crowded. There are many well-dressed men 
and many women in black gowns wearing black shawls 
over their heads. There are priests and monks in big hats 
and long gowns of various colors, some with cowls which 
hang far down their backs. There are sober-faced nuns 
and sisters of charity, and now and then a band of school 
boys walking along under the charge of a priest. The 
Spaniards are almost all Roman Catholics, and in many of 
the schools the priests are the teachers. Then there are 
newsboys shouting their papers, peddlers selling lottery 
tickets, milkmen, and men of all trades. In the evenings 
there are many people in cafes reading, chatting, or play- 
ing dominoes, and scores of promenaders on the streets 
laughing and chatting with one another. 

Every Sunday afternoon during our stay in Madrid there 
is a bull fight in the great ring which the people have built 
for such shows. We are urged to attend, but we refuse. 
We do not approve of bull fighting, and we certainly would 
not go to a show on Sunday. Nevertheless, we cannot help 



IN THE CITIES OF SPAIN. 439 

learning a great deal about the sport, for at times our 
Spanish friends will talk of nothing but bulls and bull 
fighting. Attending such shows is the favorite amusement 
of the Spaniards, and a great bull fight here will attract 
more spectators than will gather to see a base ball match 
between champion teams in one of our cities. 

All the large towns of Spain have their bull rings, and 
hundreds of bulls are killed in them every year. Much of 
the fighting is upon horses, and as many as five thousand 
horses have been gored to death in one season. 

At such fights the wildest and fiercest bulls that can be 
found are brought into the circus. This is a big ring with 
walls about it, above which are the seats for the people, 
In Madrid many thousands attend, and men, women, and 
children of all classes are among the spectators. We are 
told that even the women and girls clap their hands as 
they watch their favorite actors torturing the poor animals 
to death. 

The fighters are both on foot and on horseback. They 
are dressed in gay costumes, each having his hair done up 
in a knot at the back of the neck. The men on foot have red 
blankets which they shake in front of the bull, as soon as 
he enters the ring, to enrage him. As the animal darts for 
them they jump to one side; and when he turns about 
they again shake the red, the color which every bull hates, 
in his face. The men on horseback tease him with sharp 
lances, and as he grows angry the men on foot throw 
sharp arrows decorated with bright-colored ribbons into his 
shoulders or back. The arrows have sharp points barbed 
like a fishhook, so that they cannot come out, and the rib- 
bons tied to their shafts wave gayly as the tormented bull 
runs around the ring. 

After a time even the quietest animal can be made angry 

CARP. EUROPE — 27 



440 SPAIN. 

by such treatment. The beast soon becomes wild with 
rage; he darts after the men on horseback, and tries to 
drive his horns into their steeds. Sometimes a horse is 
thrown to the ground, and its rider gored to death. 

When the bull has reached this angry state, one of the 
men on foot tries to kill him by stabbing him with a sword. 
If he makes just the right stroke, he can drop him dead to 
the ground; but in many cases the poor beast is stabbed 
again and again. After the bull is killed a team of horses 
is hitched to its horns, and the band plays while it is 
dragged out and another victim brought in. 

We spend some time visiting the great museums and art 
galleries for which Madrid is noted, and at the palace and 
in the government departments learn about the country. 
Spain is ruled by a King, and a Parliament, the lower house 
of which is elected by the people. The government of 
Spain has been bad in times past, and this is one reason 
why the Spaniards are poor. Both in city and country 
civilization is backward, and the common people are so 
ignorant that only one in every four can read and write. 
Spain has but few railroads; and although it has much 
good land and many rich mines of iron, copper, zinc, quick- 
silver, and lead, it is poor and the government is greatly in 
debt. Its resources are little developed, and it is not increas- 
ing in population and wealth like many of the other parts 
of Europe. 

This is partly due to the character of the Spaniards, who 
were so enriched by the countries they obtained through 
the discoveries of Columbus and others that they became 
lazy, extravagant, and cruel ; for people rarely make good 
use of wealth they have not earned. The Spaniards then 
secured fortunes without working for them, and became 
the richest nation of Europe. Spain owned almost all 



IN THE CITIES OF SPAIN. 44 1 

South America with the exception of Brazil, and all Central 
America and Mexico, as well as the West Indies and the 
Philippine Islands. She enslaved the natives and brought 
gold and silver by the shipload home from those countries. 
She established colonies in them, but oppressed the people 
so that they rebelled and one by one broke away from her, 
and now Spain has no colonies of any importance. 

From Madrid we travel by rail, visiting the various 
provinces of the kingdom. We find that each state has the 
general Spanish characteristics, but that the people of 
the different sections each have ways and customs of their 
own. The Spaniards are made up of several race ele- 
ments, owing to the fact that the country has been overrun 
again and again by other races. Spain was conquered by 
the Carthaginians and afterwards was long held by the 
Romans ; these in turn were overthrown by the Goths 
from the north. In the eighth century the Moors crossed 
the Strait of Gibraltar from Africa and drove out the 
Goths. The Spanish of to-day are the result of the inter- 
mingling of these different races. They resemble the 
Italians and French more closely than they do the Anglo- 
Saxons and Germans. 

The people are proud and patriotic and very hospitable 
in manner. If we admire anything in the hands of a 
Spaniard, he straightway offers it to us, knowing we shall 
refuse to accept it, and whenever we visit at any man's 
house he tells us that the house is ours. 

We make one trip northward into the provinces where 
the Basques live, on the edge of the Pyrenees. These peo- 
ple are among the best of the Spaniards, being descended 
from the earliest inhabitants. The Basques are noted for 
their thrift. Their country is rich in minerals, especially 
in iron and coal, much of which is exported from the port 



442 



SPAIN. 



of Bilbao, on the Bilbao River, not far from the Bilbao 
Bay. 

Another excursion is made to Valencia, the great silk 
and wine port of the Mediterranean, and afterward we go 
westward and visit Cordoba, Granada, and Seville. In this 
region the people are somewhat darker, and we see many 
who remind us somewhat of the people of Turkey. The 
houses are different, and some of the cities are like parts 
of Constantinople. This region was long in the hands of 
the Moors, a race of warlike Mohammedans who crossed 
the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, and conquered the country, 

pushing their rule so far 
north that for a time the 
French had the proverb, 
" Africa begins at the 
Pyrenees." 

The Moors held south- 
ern Spain for several 
centuries, and estab- 
lished their own civiliza- 
tion in it. They were 
among the ablest and 
most learned people of 
their time. They built 
great cities in' Spain, 
and among them Cor- 
doba, which at one time 
had almost one million 
inhabitants. It had hundreds of public schools and a great 
university ; it had one hundred public baths and one hun- 
dred mosques, the ruins of the greatest of which are still 
standing. We visit these ruins, and stroll about through 
the forest of columns which upheld the great roof. We 




Interior of the Alcazar. 



IN THE CITIES OF SPAIN. 



443 



enter the Catholic cathedral, which has been built inside 
the mosque, and then stroll out into the narrow, dirty 
streets of the Cordoba of to-day. The great glory of the 
ancient Moorish city has long since passed away. Its 
population has dwindled 
to fifty thousand, and 
it now ranks with the 
smaller cities of Spain. 
Still, it has houses which 
make you think of its 
past. Many of them are 
of Moorish architecture, 
with lattice work balco- 
nies, and with iron bars 
over the windows and 
doors. 

In Granada, not far 
away, we explore the 
ruins of the Alhambra, 
the huge red stone pal- 
ace where the Moorish 
kings lived, and then go 
on to Seville. Here 
there is another great 
Moorish palace, the Alcazar (al-ka/thar), and also many 
beautiful Moorish houses, with walls painted in the bright- 
est colors and windows heavily barred. Each 'is built about 
a court in which oranges grow and cool fountains play. 
There are date trees on the edge of the city, and, in the 
country about, groves of oranges and lemons and other 
tropical fruits. There are tobacco plantations, and we are 
shown a tobacco factory employing five thousand women, 
which is said to be the largest in Europe. 




"There are date trees on the edge of 
the city.' : 



444 spain. 

Seville is situated at the head of navigation of the Gua- 
dalquivir (gwa-dal-kwi-vir') River, and hence has a large 
trade. There are steamers loading oranges and lemons at 
the wharves, and we take passage on one of the orange 
steamers. We float down the Guadalquivir through a 
beautiful and almost tropical country, and at last come to 
Cadiz, the chief Spanish port on the Atlantic. 

Cadiz is situated on a beautiful bay, and is surrounded 
by villages. It is one of the oldest settlements in Europe, 
having been a thriving port in the days of the Phoenicians 
as well as in the times of the Greeks and the Romans. 
We find many ships in its harbor, and take passage on one 
for Gibraltar, for we wish to see this great English for- 
tress at the entrance to the Mediterranean before leaving 
Spain. 

The voyage is a short one, and we are soon landed at the 
foot of the enormous bare rock commanding the strait. 
We can see the forts before we come to it. Two thousand 
big cannon are looking at us out of its sides, and it fairly 
bristles with batteries and fortifications. This rock belongs 
to England, and, although it is so small that you could 
walk around it in less than two hours, it is one of the most 
important forts of the world. It is the key to the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, and through it, to the Suez Canal, and is of 
the greatest value in protecting the English ships, which 
must go through on their way to and from Asia, Austra- 
lia, and the Mediterranean ports. 

The English have also a naval station and a coaling port 
here. There is a good harbor at the foot of the rock, and 
upon it a town of about thirty thousand people, including 
Spaniards, Greeks, Arabians, Italians, Africans, and Eng- 
lish. We are met by English officers as we step from our 
steamer, and are delighted as we stroll about through the 



THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL. 



445 



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Gibraltar. 

town to meet many people who can speak our own lan- 
guage. The English keep several thousand soldiers at 
Gibraltar all the year around ; and the king of England 
appoints a governor who has charge of the colony and 
who is also commander in chief of the fort. 



:>XKc 



XLVI. THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL. 



HOW our hearts jump as we go to the shipping office 
near the wharves of Gibraltar and take passage for 
London ! Our long tour is now about over, and we shall 
soon be crossing the Atlantic for dear old America. We 
have already traveled through every country in Europe 
except the little kingdom of Portugal, and of this we shall 



446 



PORTUGAL. 



see something while our steamer stops to take on cargo at 
Lisbon and Oporto on its way north. 

Portugal is like Spain in that it is generally mountainous, 
but it has also many rich plains. It is almost as large as 
Indiana, but it has far less arable land. It is noted for 
its fine fruit, its great vineyards, and forests of the oak 
whose bark furnishes the cork of commerce. It raises 




Longitude 



Greenwich 



many cattle and sheep, and thousands of hogs are fed on 
the acorns which grow in the woods. Much wheat, corn, 
barley, and rye are raised in the valleys, although not 
enough to feed all the people. It is a land of flowers, and 
roses bloom all the year round. The breezes from the 
mountains and ocean make it cooler than Spain, so that in 
many parts of the country the climate is delightful. 

Portugal has several good harbors, and as most of its 



THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL. 447 

people live near the coast, they are a great seafaring nation. 
They early took to trading and in the Middle Ages their 
ships sailed to Africa, to England, and to all parts of the 
Mediterranean. The Portuguese were the first to explore 
the west coast of Africa, and Bartholomew Diaz (de'as), a 
Portuguese sea captain, was the first white man to reach 
the Cape of Good Hope. This was five years before 
Columbus discovered America ; and ten years later Vasco 
da Gama (ga/ma), another Portuguese, made the first 
voyage around Africa to India. The most of the eastern 
coast of South America was discovered by Portuguese. 
It was a Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, who 
in 1520 sailed up the Rio de la Plata, and then, after 
passing through the Strait of Magellan at the southern 
extremity of the continent, crossed the Pacific and discov- 
ered the Philippine Islands, where he was killed. Some 
of Magellan's ships sailed on around the Cape of Good 
Hope to Europe, and thus made the first voyage clear 
around the world. 

At that time the Portuguese went everywhere, and Portu- 
gal established colonies in South America, India, and other 
places, so that to-day there are more people who speak 
Portuguese outside Portugal than in that country itself. 
In South America, for example, Brazil, a state more than 
eighty times as large as Portugal, is inhabited by almost 
three times as many people. 

It is but a short voyage from Gibraltar to Lisbon, and 
we are soon steaming in through the mouth of the Tagus 
River and up to the city, which is twelve miles back from 
the coast. The river widens within a short distance from 
its mouth, and it is so broad and deep in front of the 
city that it forms one of the best harbors of Europe. It 
is visited by vessels from all parts of the world. We sail 



448 



PORTUGAL. 



through shipping all the way up the river. The banks 
are high and steep, and upon them massive buildings 
painted in the brightest of colors show out through the 
trees. There are castles and churches on the tops of the 
hills, and beyond them are the ragged Cintra Mountains, 
with their peaks in the sky. 

Lisbon and its suburbs border the Tagus for more than 
nine miles, the buildings extending for three miles back 




Lisbon. 



from the river. The city has a population of about four 
hundred thousand, and it looks quite imposing as we steam 
up to the wharves. 

Landing, we stroll about through the streets. Some of 
them are wider than the best avenues of our American 
cities. They are lined with trees, and have excellent pave- 
ments. The buildings are large two and three story struc- 
tures of gray stone, or of brick covered with stucco ; and 



THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL. 449 

many of them are painted in the most delicate tints of red, 
blue, and yellow, so that the city looks fresh and gay. 

The people are as gay as their homes. They are well 
dressed, and wear clothes of bright colors. Many of the 
men have suits of white linen with hats of white straw, 
and the women wear brighter colors than the women of 
Spain. The Portuguese are somewhat like the Spaniards, 
but not so tall or so heavily built ; their faces are darker, 
and we frequently meet one as dark as a mulatto. We 
now and then see a negro among them, for the Portuguese 
were great slave traders in the past. They took cargoes 
of negroes from Africa to Brazil, and some were brought 
here to Portugal. 

How many queer characters there are on the street! 
We meet peddlers going about with boxes and baskets on 
their heads, crying their wares ; there are men upon horse- 
back and ladies in carriages ; there are scores of donkeys, 
some ridden by men, and others driven along loaded with 
bags, baskets, and even with stones. We see many priests 
and nuns, for the country is Catholic, and there are churches 
and monasteries in all of its towns. 

We pass fountains at every few steps ; there are more 
than thirty in Lisbon, all fed by a great aqueduct which 
conducts water from the hills eight miles away. Each 
fountain is surrounded by men, women, and children who 
are filling stone jars and casks and carrying them off on 
their heads to their homes. Many of the water carriers 
are Spaniards from the province of Galicia, who have 
hired themselves out as servants to the Portuguese. 

After our walk we visit the library of Lisbon, which con- 
tains three hundred thousand volumes, and then spend 
some time in the government offices. We learn that Por- 
tugal has a King, and a Parliament, the lower house of 



450 PORTUGAL. 

which is elected by the people. We find that the country 
is backward in its adoption of modern improvements. It 
has but few railroads, and not more than one third of the 
people can read and write. The chief business is farming, 
although in the north there are many cotton mills which 
make gay colored calicoes for the African trade. 

Later we leave Lisbon for a trip through the rich valley 
of the Tagus. This river rises in Spain, and after leaving 
the 'mountains flows through plains of great fertility down 
to the sea, dividing Portugal into two almost equal parts. 
There are windmills on all sides of us as we ride up the 
valley; we pass bullock carts dragging great loads over 
the highways, and donkeys and mules jogging along with 
brushwood, timber, and bags of grain on their backs. 
There are women and men at work in the fields. We 
stop to lunch in an orange grove, picking the ripe juicy 
fruit from the trees, and as we near the mountains we 
pass by many large vineyards. 

We are especially interested in cork trees, from whose 
bark come the stoppers used in bottles all over the world. 
There are thousands of acres of such trees in Portugal and 
Spain, some wild and some in cultivated groves. The cork 
tree is an evergreen oak which, when full grown, is forty or 
fifty feet high and sometimes as much as five feet in thick- 
ness. The corks are made from the bark, which is so soft 
that it can be easily cut into shape. The bark grows very 
slowly ; a tree must be fifteen years old before its bark be- 
comes an inch or so thick and ready for cutting. After this, 
if the bark is properly taken off, the tree will grow a new 
coat every eight or ten years for more than a century. 

In taking the bark, two rings are cut around the tree, 
one just above the ground, and one below the main 
branches. Between these, cuts are made lengthwise just 



THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL. 



45 



deep enough not to injure the innermost bark, and the 
strips are pried off. After stripping, the bark is flattened 
out by heating it over a fire. It is scraped and cleaned 
and hardened by boiling or steaming, and then it is ready 
to be shipped to the markets. 




the strips are pried off. 



The bark is used for making bottle stoppers, cork legs, 
hat linings, the soles of shoes, life preservers, and many 
other things. The cork of Portugal is so valuable that it 
brings in more than three million dollars a year, being 
next to wine the chief export of the country. 

We find men loading cork on our steamer when we get 
back to Lisbon, and as we sail out of the harbor towards 
the stormy Atlantic we rejoice in the fact that we have so 



452 PORTUGAL. 

much cork on board that, if our ship should be wrecked, we 
could not possibly sink. 

We stay only a short time in Oporto, the great wine city 
of Portugal, loading a cargo of sherry and port, and then 
steam on to London. Here we remain a few days to re- 




" We stay only a short time at Oporto." 

pack our baggage and complete our list of presents for 
our dear friends at home, and then, having finished our 
long tour of Europe, take a train for Liverpool, where one 
of the fastest of the great ocean greyhounds is waiting to 
carry us back to New York. 



INDEX. 



Acropolis, 385. 

Alps, 249-271, 275. 

Amsterdam, 145. 

Andersen, Hans Christian, 161. 

Antwerp, 127. 

Army — Austrian, 284 ; British, 83 ; 

German, 1 91-21 6; Russian, 338; 

Swiss, 268. 
Astrachan, 357. 
Athens, 384. 
Atlantic Ocean, 12-15. 
Austria-Hungary, 280-301. 

Bank of England, 71. 

Barcelona, 436. 

Basques, 441. 

Bazaars — Russian, 343 ; Turkish, 

369-37I- 
Beer, 214, 275. 
Belfast, 31. 
Belgium, 125-133. 
Belgrade, 305. 
Berlin, 203-223. 
Bern, 269. 
Birmingham, 61. 
Blanc, Mont, 256. 
Bog lands of Ireland, 26. 
Bohemia, 282. 
Bordeaux, 97. 
Bosporus, Strait of, 361. 
Bremen, 199. 
Brussels, 129. 
Budapest, 295-300. 
Bulgaria, 308. 



Bull fights, 438. 
Burns, Robert, 46. 
Byzantium, 363. 

Cable, Atlantic, 84. 

Canals — France, 96; Germany, 189, 
192, 198; Holland, 137, 145; Man- 
chester, 63 ; Sweden, 180; Venice, 

393- 
Canaries, 231, 342. 
Caspian Sea, 357. 

Catacombs, Paris, 119 ; Rome, 416. 
Caviar, 345. 
Christiania, 180. 
Clyde, the, 333. 
Coal — Belgium, 127; England, 56-62; 

France, 104, 105 ; Germany, 187, 

228, 232 ; Russia, 343 ; Scotland, 

33; Spain, 441. 
Coblenz, 241. 
Coliseum, 413. 
Cologne, 236. 

Columbus, Christopher, 408. 
Commerce, 59, 68, 261, 27 1, 390, 

400. 
Constantinople, 361-381. 
Copenhagen, 158. 
Cordoba, 442. 
Corinth, 391. 
Cork, bark, 450. 
Cork, city of, '21. 
Cotton, manufactures, 62-64, 96, 341 , 

353- 
Czar, 331, 338. 



453 



454 



INDEX. 



Danube, 271-280, 293, 301-31 1. 

Danzig, 202. 

Denmark, 156-163. 

Diamonds, 150. 

Diaz, Bartholomew, 447. 

Dikes of Holland, 135. 

Dresden, 226. 

Droskies, 312. 

Dublin, 27. 

Edinburgh, 44-46. 

Education — Denmark, 163; France, 
49 ; Germany, 219, 233 ; Greece, 
389; Holland, 143 ; Hungary, 299; 
Italy, 417; Norway, 180; Russia, 
378; Scotland, 38; Sweden, 182; 
Turkey, 374. 

Eider ducks, 172. 

Elbe River, 193, 195. 

England, 48-84. 

Europe, general, 10. 

Fahrenheit, 203. 

Fairs, 228, 352. 

Farming — Belgium, 125; England, 50- 
55; France, 88, 91; Germany, 187, 
224, 276; Greece, 391; Holland, 
140 ; Hungary, 302 ; Italy, 402 ; 
Ireland, 18-21, 27, 29 ; Norway, 
178-180; Russia, 320-330, 356; 
Spain, 431; Sweden, 185; Switzer- 
land, 262-266. 

Finland, 338. 

Fiords, 164. 

Firth of Forth, 45. 

Florence, 410. 

Flour mills, floating, 303. 

Fontainebleau, 118. 

Forests — France, 94 ; Norway, 1 76 ; 
Portugal, 450 ; Russia, 316, 357. 

France, 85-124. 

Frankfurt, 245. 

Gama, Vasco da, 447. 
Garnets, 291. 



Genoa, 408. 

Germany, 186-248. 

Giant's Causeway, 29-31. 

Gibraltar, 444. 

Glaciers, 255-259. 

Glasgow, 32-39. 

Gondolas, 394. 

Gotha Canal, 180. 

Gothenburg, 180. 

Governments — Austria, 283 ; Den- 
mark, 159 ; England, 78 ; France, 
117-124; Germany, 215-223; Hol- 
land, 153; Italy, 417; Russia, 329, 
338; Scandinavia, 184; Spain, 440; 
Switzerland, 267-270; Turkey, 371. 

Granada, 443. 

Greece, 381-392. 

Gulf Stream, 168. 

Gutenberg, 245. 

Gypsies, 309. 

Hague, The, 152. 
Hamburg, 195-198. 
Hammerfest, 170. 
Hanseatic League, 200. 
Harz Mountains, 231. 
Havre, 296. 
Heidelberg, 246. 
Highlanders, 43. 
Holland, 133-156. 
Hungary, Austria-, 293-301. 

Ireland, 15-32. 

Iron, 33, 56, 59, 61, 127, 187, 232, 

233. 353* 44i. 
Iron Gate of Danube, 307. 
Italy, 392-428. 

Jaunting cars, 16. 

Kazan, 354. 
Kiel, 192. 

Killarney, Lakes, 24. 
Knives, how made, 59. 
Koran, The, 378. 
Kremlin, The, 347. 



INDEX. 



455 



Lace making in Belgium, 128; France, 

104; Ireland, 27. 
Laplanders, 169. 
Leeds, 58. 
Leipzig, 227. 
Limoges, 105. 
Linen, 31, 341. 
Lisbon, 447, 450. 
Lisle, 105. 
Liverpool, 64. 
Lombardy, 402. 
London, 66-84. 
Lubeck, 200. 
Lyons, 100. 

Macaroni, 419. 

Madrid, 437. 

Magyars, 300. 

Mainz, 245. 

Manchester, 62. 

Manufactures — Belgium, 126-129 ; 
England, 55-56 ; France, 95-106 ; 
Germany, 227-233 ; Holland, 149- 
151 ; Italy, 405, 407, 419; Russia, 
340-343 ; Sweden, 181 ; Switzer- 
land, 261; Turkey, 371. 

Markets — Berlin, 214; London, 68; 
Moscow, 345; Paris, 113. 

Marseilles, 100. 

Midnight Sun, 163-175. 

Milan, 407. 

Mines, 33, 56, 62, 104, 105, 127, 187, 
232, 233, 282, 343, 441. 

Mohammedans — Russian, 355 ; Span- 
ish, 442; Turkish, 361-381. 

Moors, 442. 

Moscow, 340, 351. 

Mosques, 365, 375~37 8 - 

Munich, 275. 

Naples, 417-421. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1 21-123, 132. 

Netherlands, The, 133-156. 

Newcastle, 57. 

Nizhni Novgorod, 351. 

North Cape, 173. 



Norway, 163-180. 
Nuremberg, 273. 

Odessa, 31 1-3 14. 
Olives, 432. 
Opals, 291. 
Oporto, 452. 

Paisley, 39. 

Paris, 106-125. 

Parks — Berlin, 206 ; London, 77 ; 
Vienna, 286. 

Parliament — Denmark, 159 ; Eng- 
land, 76-81 ; France, 123; Ger- 
many, 217; Holland, 153. 

Peat, 25. 

Peter the Great, 336. 

Petroleum, 358-360. 

Pisa, 410. 

Poles, 339. 

Pompeii, 422, 426. 

Pope, the, 415. 

Porcelain, 105, 152, 233. 

Portugal, 445-453- 

Potato, 18, 20. 

Railroads, 49, 86, 88, 108, 176, 190, 
206, 223, 317. 

Reindeer, 170. 

Rhine, the, 234-248. 

Ribbons, 104. 

Rigi, M., 252. 

Rivers — Arno, 410 ; Clyde, 333 ; 
Danube, 271-280, 301-31 1 ; Elbe, 
*93» x 95; Forth > 455 Garonne, 97; 
Loire, 96; Main, 245; Mersey, 64; 
Po, 402; Rhine, 234-248; Rhone, 
100; Seine, 108; Tiber, 411 ; Tagus, 
447, 450; Thames, 67; Vistula, 202; 
Volga, 35!-357- 

Rome, 411-417. 

Roumania, 306, 309. 

Russia, 311-361. 

St. Bernard dogs, 260. 
St. Etienne, 104. 



456 



INDEX. 



St. Gothard, Mt., 258. 

St. Petersburg, 330-339. 

Salt, 232, 276, 278. 

Samara, 355. 

San Marino, 410. 

Scandinavia, 163-185. 

Scheveningen, 153—155. 

Scotland, 32-48. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 39, 47. 

Seine, the, 107. 

Servia, 305. 

Seville, 444. 

Shakespeare, William, 65. 

Sheffield, 59. 

Shipbuilding, ^^, 202. 

Silk, 101, 405-407. 

Slovaks, 301. 

Spain, 428-445. 

Stettin, 201. 

Stockholm, 182. 

Stores — Berlin, 220; Constantinople, 

369; Denmark, 159; Holland, 149; 

Russian, 313, 343, 353. 
Storks, 139, 193, 305. 
Strassburg, 247. 
Stratford-on-Avon, 65. 
Sultan, the, 364, 372-374, 378. 
Sunflowers, 356. 
Switzerland, 249-271. 

Tagus River, 447-450. 
Tartars, 355. 



Thames River, 67. 
Tiflis, 360. 
Toys, 229, 273. 
Tromso, 170. 
Trondhjem, 166. 
Trossachs, the, 42. 
Tula, 341. 
Tulips, 141. 
Turks, 364. 
Tweed, 39. 

Ulm, 272. 

United Kingdom, 15-84. 

Venice, 391-401. 
Versailles, 118. 
Vesuvius, 421-428. 
Vienna, 280-291. 
Vineyards, 97, 240, 391, 431. 
Vistula River, 202. 
Volga River, 35**357- 
Vosges Mts., 105. 

Warsaw, 339. 
Waterloo, 132. 

Wellington, Duke of, 76, 132. 
Westminster Abbey, 81. 
Windmills, 139. 
Wines, 97, 240, 391, 431. 
Wool, manufactures, 27, 39, 58, 1055 
128, 149, 229, 341. 



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